


An Unintended Side Effect

by Libby_25cSoda



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Darth Vader's A+ parenting, Father-Son Relationship, Force-Sensitive Leia Organa, Gen, Leia organa - Freeform, Mentions of Padme Amidala - Freeform, Minor Original Character(s), Non-Consensual Drug Use, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Son is less happy to be had, Vader's just happy to have his son, Whump, no beta we die like stormtroopers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:55:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 25,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27725111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Libby_25cSoda/pseuds/Libby_25cSoda
Summary: Luke Skywalker had hoped to have a nice evening out with friends, and hopefully not be too hungover to continue his Alliance duties in the morning. His father had other ideas.Post-ESB au, updates Mondays!
Relationships: Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader
Comments: 198
Kudos: 339





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi y'all! At last, I have an AO3 account; I've only been on here reading and posting comments (as Libby) for,,,all of 2020 up to this point. I've got up to part 5 of this on my tumblr (25centsoda) under the same title, but I'll be posting weekly updates here, either Monday or Tuesday depending on how much time I got to write that week (mostly Monday). Thank you to my friends who keep encouraging me and help me out when I hit a snag in the story. Enjoy, and tell me what you think!

When Luke woke, he felt pleasantly warm and his mind was fuzzy, refusing to sharpen into full wakefulness. He hummed and rolled over, savoring the warmth but preparing to leave it. He had a squad to report to, after all, even if he seemed to be suffering the side effects of what must’ve been a massive party the night before.

With a groan, Luke sat up and rubbed his eyes, gazing blearily at the room without really seeing it. When he stood, it was on surprisingly soft carpeting rather than the thin he could’ve sworn it had been when he went to bed. He internally shrugged, dismissing it - they moved bases so often, after all, it became hard to really keep track of them - and tried to cross the room to his small closet.

Luke frowned at the distance he’d crossed - much longer than a standard bunkroom ought to be, even for a commander - and the blank wall where his clothes should have been. He turned around to stare at the room, his vision still not quite focused, and tried to sift back through his memories. Where were they now, again?

He shivered as a creeping coldness stole the train of thought from him. With a hiss, the door opened across the room and a dark figure strode in.

The figure and Luke stared at each other for a moment, Luke tilting his head upwards to look at their face, before the figure unexpectedly reached out a hand and placed it gently on Luke’s cheek. Luke startled, caught off guard, his eyes drifting to the side as he tried to wrack his memory for who this person could possibly be.

Again the train of thought broke and fell away like smoke as the figure said, “Luke. My son.”

Luke turned back to the figure, a man, and blinked at him confusedly. “Father?” His eyes widened as his memory finally caught up with him and he felt very, very awake, although still a little blurred. “Wait, no--!”

He tried to jerk away, but Vader held him in place with a hand on his shoulder, one still against his cheek.

“Where am I?” he demanded, putting as much harshness into his voice as he could muster.

“You are on the _Executor_ , young one.”

“How’d I even get here? And where are my friends?!”

Luke felt amusement color Vader’s presence in the Force, even through the muddle that was his head. “If it concerns you so, young one, I did not go seeking out your Rebel _friends,_ nor did any get in my way. I only took you from that despicable place I found you on Ord Mantell.”

Ah. So he _was_ hungover, then. At least it wasn’t anything more sinister.

The amusement faded from Vader’s presence in the Force, replaced by something like-- Was that _shame_? No - disappointment? The man took a step back, his hands falling to his sides.

Luke hadn’t figured it out by the time his father replied, “While you were...inebriated when I found you,” - Found. As if he was just a stray lothcat and not _his own kriffing person._ \- “what you’re feeling right now is due to the Emperor’s machinations, not anything resulting from your own actions.”

Oh. Luke knew what that feeling he sensed was. _Guilt_.

“What do you mean?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Palpatine knew I had you, and gave me an ultimatum. It was either this or handing you over to him for training, and I,” Vader growled, clenching a fist, “will not subject you to that.”

“Oh, but cutting off my hand and _drugging me_ is fine, I suppose. If you’re not teaching me the Dark Side, what _are_ you gonna do with me? You can’t just keep me locked in this room forever.”

“As my son and heir, you are the Imperial Prince. You have duties to fulfill as such.”

Luke felt suddenly very tired. This was entirely too much to deal with, especially if he couldn’t _kriffing think straight_. He tried to use the Force to clear his head, but it twisted out of his grasp, allowing nothing more than vague impressions. He hissed, frustrated.

Vader put a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “You should rest, my son. Clearly this is taxing you.”

“ _You’re_ taxing me,” he said under his breath as he allowed his father to lead him back to the ridiculously large bed. Honestly, how had he not noticed as soon as he woke up?

Vader pulled the blankets over his son’s figure and began carding his hands through his hair. Luke hummed and burrowed deeper into the warmth.

He’d deal with this mess when he could _think_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke checks out his new digs and continues to live a life of "Father, why?"

This time when Luke woke up his mind was clear and the Force came readily when he called. He breathed deeply, savoring the clear connection to the energy of the universe for a moment before drawing shields tight around himself, ensuring Vader couldn’t reach him. He sat up, scrubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands, and sighed, looking out over the room.

He really was stuck on the _Executor_ with his father, wasn’t he?

Well. Nothing for it. He would have to find a way to escape, as soon as possible. He had friends and a Rebellion to get back to, after all, and he would _not_ turn to the dark side.

Luke stood and stretched, again noting the lush carpet and wondering just how out of it he’d been the previous day to not have noticed where he was immediately. Now able to actually process things, he took in the room properly. Deep red carpet, grey durasteel walls, no closet that he could see but three doors broke up the monotony of the walls, along with...was that…

Luke crossed the room in wonder, staring open-mouthed at the view of the stars outside his viewport. A _viewport,_ in starship quarters!

After admiring the view for an indeterminate amount of time, Luke mentally shook himself and went to explore the rest of the room. On a small nightstand by the bed he hadn’t noticed before was a chrono, brightly declaring the time and date on its face. Luke grimaced. _Two days since he’d seen his friends, what they must be thinking about his disappearance… Had they seen Vader take him? Or did they think something else happened to him?_

One of the doors led to ‘fresher, fully stocked with anything he could need, plus _water_ settings in the shower. He looked critically at the long handle on the shower door; could he rip that off and use it as a weapon? Something to come back to later. Maybe the mirror shards would make good improvised weapons as well, if it came to that.

The second door led to the closet he’d been looking for yesterday, but of course instead of Rebel fatigues it was filled with black outfits, both with and without the Imperial cog stitched to a sleeve or breast pocket. From here Luke took a pair of boots - new ones were hard to come by in the Rebellion, best to take them whenever you can - and a belt with weapons holsters.

The third led into a hallway, which ended in another door. Luke looked back to the door he came from; looked like it could be locked from the outside. Lovely. He tucked that piece of information away, resolving to escape the ship before it became something he had to work around.

The door at the end of the hallway opened as he approached, into a larger room containing a couch and desk, lots of open floor space, and another door with a large keypad next to it, the small light on top glowing firmly red. He couldn’t quite get that open on his own, it was too complex a mechanism to tease open with the Force without knowing anything about how it was supposed to work - likely Vader had deeply considered the place he was going to stash his son - but he could sense the presence of two Stormtroopers just outside it.

Banging on the door, using the Force to make each blow as loud as possible, Luke shouted, “Hey! Please, I need help!”

“Quiet in there,” came the reply.

“Please!”

Luke could only hope Vader had given them instructions to keep him not just alive but well, otherwise this wouldn’t work and he’d have to try something else. His suspicions were confirmed moments later when the door slid open to show two Stormtroopers as expected. He smiled.

Perfect.

\---------

Vader kneeled before a hologram of the Emperor in his private chambers.

“And the boy is cooperative?” the Emperor asked.

“Yes, master. At the very least, he has not yet opposed me.”

“Hmm. Ensure that he does not. Remember that you have already failed to bring him to heel once; I will not be so forgiving of another failure. Next time, the boy will come straight to _me_ , and I will put him to rights.”

Vader strengthened his shields and held himself still, even as Palpatine’s words brought a most unwelcome image to his mind. His anger blazed, and he fed the flames behind his shields, vowing to never let Luke near Palpatine if he could help it. In this the son would not follow the father; he wouldn’t allow it.

“I understand, my master.”

“Good. I’ve allowed you to keep the boy, but you must not neglect your duty to wipe out the rest of that pathetic rebellion.”

“They shall not be a plague on our galaxy for much longer, master.”

“See that they aren’t, Lord Vader. Dismissed.”

The hologram winked out and Vader stood, wincing at the strain holding such a position for long periods of time caused his prosthetics. He ached for the day he could give the empire he’d built to his son, but they were in no position to attack Palpatine yet. That day would have to wait until he could find a way to train his son without the Emperor finding out, for he had no doubt that as soon as they began Palpatine would find an excuse to spirit Luke away from him, preventing them from joining together to defeat him.

Stalking out of his rooms into the hallways of the _Executor_ proper, Vader found Piett and said, “Admiral, report.”

Admiral Piett snapped a salute and fell into step with his commander. “My lord, we will be arriving at Tarra soon to refuel. All aspects of the ship are running smoothly, and after refueling we should be en-route to Coruscant within the cycle.”

“And what of my...guest?”

“The last report I saw some fifteen minutes ago said all was quiet on that front, my lord. He’s not been an issue.”

As soon as Piett finished speaking, the hum of stun shots echoed down the corridor along with aborted screams. Vader threw his awareness out in the Force, seeking his son’s bright energy, but it was like looking at the surface of a lake in the sunlight; the image shimmered and flickered away from him, impossible to make out. He cursed and began moving quickly - not running, Sith Lords did not _run_ \- towards the quarters his son was housed in. The boy could hardly have been awake much longer than an hour, how could he already be causing trouble?

By the time Vader arrived at the door outside his son’s quarters, the boy was already gone, leaving both troopers who had been posted outside collapsed on the floor in his wake, presumably the recipients of the stun shots he’d heard. He growled low, the vocoder in his suit picking it up as crackling static, and tried to reach for his son again. This time, he was able to pick up a sense of the boy in the vague direction of the hangars. Of _course_ he would immediately try to reach the ships.

Suddenly Vader remembered the ship was about to dock at a planet, and his heart seized in fear. If Luke was still loose when that happened, he would actually stand a chance of getting off the ship.

“Lock down all hangars, no one will leave this ship until I give the order,” Vader said into his comlink, moving to follow the faint light of his son’s Force signature.

 _There is no escape, my son,_ he sent along their fledgling bond. He felt Luke flinch in response, and smiled in satisfaction under his mask. The boy’s shields had slipped just enough in that flinch to give him a better location.

“Send a detachment of troops to Hangar Bay Three, and have them set their weapons to stun. A prisoner is loose; he cannot be allowed to escape.”

Vader strolled into the aforementioned hangar bay, casting his awareness out, scanning the room for his wayward son. The boy’s shields deflected his senses, but it was that refraction of light that gave him away, a distortion in the Force in a corner of the hangar.

“It is no use hiding, young one,” he boomed. “Come out before I am forced to stun you.”

The spot of refracted light in the weave of the Force shifted, drawing tighter about itself, but it was no use. Vader had already located it.

He motioned to a small group of troopers, directing them to surround the crate that Luke was hidden behind, and they took up positions in a loose semi-circle, guns aimed at the crate.

After a moment, Luke emerged, scowling, his hands behind his head. Without a word, two troopers surged forward and none too gently dragged his hands down behind his back, clasping his wrists in binders. He purposefully avoided his father’s gaze as he was marched back to his quarters. Vader watched him go.

\----

Luke broke out of his quarters twice more, managing to disable the lock on his door, and after the sickening way the boy’s head hit the durasteel floor collapsing from a stun shot the second time, Vader decided he couldn’t take any more risks.

His son was a lot quieter and easy to contain with a drug tailor-designed for Jedi coursing through his veins, living in Vader’s quarters.

\-------

Luke was falling asleep again, leaning against his father on the couch as various Imperial servants flitted about the room taking his measurements, proposing outfit and fabric ideas. He tuned them out. Vader was just going to choose what he felt was best anyway, and Palpatine got final say. Luke had picked out several of the main fabrics. That was enough.

Without realizing it, he had fallen completely asleep. When he woke, it was to Vader gently pulling him into a sitting position and beginning to apply a thick white powder to his face. Luke blearily looked down at the table filled with cosmetics, then tried to lean his head on one hand, but he was prevented from doing so by Vader pushing him back up.

“You’ll smear the makeup, Luke,” he chided.

Luke made a face at him. “I wouldn’t be so tired if you didn’t keep _drugging_ me, _father_. Either let me sleep or let me think clearly.”

“It’s this or giving you to Palpatine for training, my son, and neither of us want that for you. Especially in light of your many failed escape attempts.”

Luke made another face, then an effort to sit up straight and stay awake. At least being paraded around as the Imperial Prince sounded like a cushy job…

“Why am I being styled after the Naboo, anyway?” he asked, hoping a conversation would help him stay awake. Vader paused, frozen, and Luke could just pick up the edge of a maelstrom of emotion from his father before the Force slipped from his grasp again and he sighed quietly.

“It was your...mother’s home planet.” Vader said carefully. “As well as Palpatine’s. He believes using the style will serve to endear him to the galaxy, and use you to evoke his own image.”

Luke hummed, closing his eyes for a minute. Vader prodded him gently with a tendril of the Force and as he opened his eyes again Luke thought longingly of being able to do more than passively sense it, himself. He would throw all this finery about the room and steal a ship, return to Han and Leia and Chewie, R2 and 3PO.

He definitely needed something to focus on to keep himself awake. Luke tried to reach out to the Force himself, clumsily brushing against his father’s signature. He felt the edge of his father’s amusement and Vader reaching back to him in response, like holding their hands up to opposite sides of glass.

“My Lord, you are needed in a meeting about introducing the Imperial Prince,” Piett said, shattering Luke’s meager focus. He sighed and gave up, leaning his head on a hand while Vader was too distracted to tell him not to.

“Why?” Vader demanded, standing. “He is to be announced in a few hours, what more is there to discuss?”

“There are some last minute security concerns they want to go over, my Lord.”

Vader scoffed, then looked down at his son for a long moment, thinking. Looking back at Piett, he said, “I leave you in charge of the boy, Admiral. Stay here with him and ensure he does not attempt another escape.” Piett seemed like he very much doubted that would be a concern, but nodded anyway. To Luke, Vader said “I will return as soon as I can and help you finish getting ready, my son.”

“Whatever,” Luke said.

With a sigh, Vader swept out of the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke meets the Emperor, who is the only one having a good time here.

Piett looked down at the tired boy on the couch and sighed internally. He _had a ship to run_ , and the boy clearly wasn’t going anywhere. But Lord Vader’s demands superseded almost all else, save those from the Emperor, and Piett quite liked breathing, thank you very much.

Sitting down stiffly on the couch next to him, Piett said, “So, Imperial Prince Skywalker.”

Luke tilted his head to better look up at the Admiral. “Unfortunately.”

“While there are, ah, certain downsides,” he said, looking uncomfortable, “surely a position as the Imperial Prince is better than the alternatives.”

“Mmm, no, I’d rather be back with the Alliance and able to _think_.” Luke sighed. “But I guess this is preferable. Just wish Vader would stop _drugging_ me.”

“He has spent considerable resources scouring the galaxy for you, I can’t imagine he’d want to take many chances on you escaping.”

“No, I’d imagine not. Still. Surely I’m not _this_ much of a danger, with him following my every move.”

Piett didn’t seem to know how to respond to that, and they sat in semi-awkward silence for a moment. Luke was too tired to really feel awkward.

\------

Luke picked his way down the shuttle ramp a half-step behind his father, careful not to stumble. It took a lot more focus than it really should have, and the voluminous, heavily stylized robes in every shade of blue really weren’t helping. To add to his discomfort, the cuffs corralling the billowy sleeves made him think of chains, wrapped around his wrists.

“Young Skywalker, we meet at last,” the Emperor said, walking up to greet them, his cane _clack_ ing on the marble floor.

They all stopped at the bottom of the ramp, and Palpatine reached out a hand to touch Luke’s face. His presence in the Force was like an oil slick, dark and poisoning the air. When the backs of his cold, gnarled fingers touched Luke’s cheek he shuddered and just barely managed not to pull away. He felt the touch of the Emperor’s Force signature inspecting his.

“Lord Vader,” he said, still looking at Luke, “couldn’t keep even your own son under control without resorting to such crude methods?”

Vader didn’t reply, but Luke could tell through their connection that behind his shields he was fuming.

“No matter,” Palpatine said, dropping his hand. Luke shored up his own shields as best he could without being able to properly touch the Force, clumsily stacking them higher. “My dear boy, should you find yourself wishing for an alternative, I’d be more than happy to take you under my wing. Surely you grate under so much time in your father’s company.”

Luke balled his artificial hand into a fist, then forced himself to release it. “I am...honored, Your Majesty, but I’m fine right where I am.”

Palpatine gave him a long, amused look, but turned back towards the palace. “My offer stands as long as you need it, my boy. Come, it is time for the galaxy to learn of its new Prince.”

They wound through hallways grander than anything Luke had ever seen, never stopping to admire anything although Luke dearly wished to at least linger in the portrait hall they’d passed; surely if he was being forced to wear Nubian makeup then his mother would have warranted a portrait in the Imperial gallery? He’d have to see if he could come back later, even if it had to be with an escort.

When they reached the balcony, Luke stood in the back, blinking in the light, grateful that his father had conceded to let him be on a lower dose for the ceremony. He’d need his wits about him to get through this, especially while trying to make sure the Alliance didn’t think he’d _decided_ to change sides.

“Citizens of the Empire,” Palpatine said, voice surprisingly strong as the speakers carried it across the amassed crowds. “On this, the 22nd glorious Empire Day, I have a gift for you. Your new Imperial Prince.”

He gestured behind him, and Luke reluctantly joined him. Palpatine put an arm around Luke and he held back another shudder as the man’s Force presence seemed to try to seep into his skin, wrapping around him like a blanket, or a viper.

“Luke Skywalker, son of the late Padmé Amidala, who hailed from my own home planet of Naboo. He was stolen away by the Jedi of the Old Republic, and led away by the Rebellion. But now the prodigal son has returned to us! In celebration of this joyous day, and the anniversary of the formation of our beautiful Empire, there will be a ball in the Imperial Palace tonight. For now, however,” he said, releasing Luke, who took the opportunity to take a half-step away, “let the celebrations begin!”

The crowd erupted in deafening cheers and fireworks went off throughout the masses, startling a flinch out of Luke. Music started up from somewhere and TIE fighters screamed in from the air amid the chaos, signaling the start of the parade.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Palpatine said, still facing the crowds.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Luke said dutifully, staring unseeing at them himself.

“It could be yours, if you chose.”

“I’m fine, Majesty,” Luke said, turning to look for his father. Even Vader was better than this; or, better yet, now that he was on a planet he might have a better chance of escaping than he’d had on the _Executor_.

“I wouldn’t be so sure, dear boy. You’ll find my Inquisitors quite difficult to evade, should you attempt it.”

Luke stiffened, hands freezing at his sides.

“But go, enjoy yourself. I’m sure there are many who would like to meet with you; don’t let an old man such as myself stop you.”

He felt the echo of Palpatine’s laughter follow him down the stairs.

\-----

Although he was stuck standing by Palpatine’s throne, Vader never took his eyes off his son, so he saw the moment Luke collapsed in his latest dance partner’s arms.

Vader immediately left the Emperor’s side and rushed to his son, whose head was in the lap of the man he had been dancing with. Luke’s eyes were closed, but they fluttered open when his father approached, carefully wrapping tendrils of the Force around his son.

“Father,” he slurred, reaching a hand up to him before letting it fall back on his own chest.

“What happened?” Vader demanded.

“I don’t know, my lord, he just collapsed,” Luke’s dance partner stuttered.

As Vader pulled Luke into his arms, Luke began speaking again. “Mmm, you’re warm. Not like, personality wise, but your suit is. I wish you were, though.”

Clearly his son was in no condition to stay here. Surely Sidious had his fill of watching Luke mingle with the Imperial elite, and would not protest if he took Luke to bed.

“I wish you were warmer,” Luke continued, eyes now closed. “More like, like a real father. I used to dream about my father, you know, how he’d take me away from Tatooine and we’d see the stars...”

He gestured, uncoordinated, as he said this, then let his hands fall.

“But I guess that’s reality for you, huh? Uncle Owen always said I dreamt too much. And now instead I’m the stupid Imperial Prince, whatever that’s supposed to mean.” Quieter, as he shifted his head closer to Vader’s chest, he added, “I’d settle for being back with my friends right now.”

Vader’s heart ached. He wished he could be a proper father to his son, but Sidious had long ago ensured he would never have the chance. All he could do now was quicken his step and get Luke to a proper bed for the night, and get him off Coruscant, away from Palpatine, as soon as possible.

\-------

As Luke slept that night in the Palace, a dark, oil-slick presence slithered its way into his chambers, seeking the boy’s light. Although he shivered in the cold it brought like a fog, he didn't wake.

The dark presence seeped across the floor, and up to Luke. On reflex, he threw out a dazzle of light, the best defense he could give in his drugged, exhausted state. The darkness was barely pushed back, but amusement colored it and it conceded, letting the boy have his rest, for now.

It had seen all it needed to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a shorter chapter this time, but tell me what you think! See you next Monday :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke changes custody while Vader goes on a mission

When Luke woke, he was alone. He clutched the blankets tighter around himself against the cold lingering in the room and shivered, suddenly missing the heavy robes he’d worn the night before. Expensive as they were, his black silk pajamas just weren’t cutting it.

He kept a blanket wrapped around his shoulders as he got up to explore the room, trying to find something to wear for the day. The tiles decorated in shades of yellow, brown, purple, and white, although beautiful, were chill under his bare feet. The light streaming in from the tall, thin windows did little to warm the room.

Upon spotting the outfit laid out for him on the desk chair, Luke tiredly made a face.

Forget the Naboo robes. What he really longed for was his rebel fatigues again, and the warmth of his friends. He’d stand even Hoth again if he had that.

With a sigh, he pulled the outfit on. At least the robes would be warm.

Mere moments after he got dressed, Vader threw the door open and swept into his room, startling him.

“What, no knock?” Luke asked. “I only just got dressed, if you’d been a minute earlier--”

“My son, I am being called away,” Vader interrupted. Luke blinked at him, taking a moment to process this. It may have been hours since Vader could’ve slipped him the last dose - he _still_ hadn’t figured out how his father kept giving it to him, although it wasn’t like he’d had the ability to think on it long enough to have any guesses - but he wasn’t quite awake enough yet to fully clear the cobwebs from his mind.

“We’re leaving?”

“No,” Vader hesitated. “I am leaving. The Emperor wants you to remain here while I am gone.”

“Oh,” Luke said, eyes distant as he thought. “Where are you going, anyway?”

His father didn’t answer him.

Luke narrowed his eyes at his father. “Are you hunting Rebels?”

Despite the mask, Vader managed to look uncomfortable. “I _was_ only chasing them down to find you, my son, with the Emperor unaware, but even though I have you now… They are still a blight on the Empire, a wrong that must be corrected.”

“You don’t even care! That’s my _friends!_ ” Luke shouted, stepping closer to Vader, who just crossed his arms.

“Clearly your choice in friends leaves much to be desired, if all you can manage are criminals and terrorists.”

“ _I’m_ a criminal and a terrorist, by that logic! Or did you forget that I blew up the Death Star, _father_?”

“Enough of this,” Vader said, turning away from him. “It’s time for your breakfast, then I must leave.”

Luke gritted his teeth, but followed the Dark Lord out the door. What else could he do? It wasn't like he had anywhere else to go.

As they walked through the grand hallways, Luke was reminded of what he’d promised himself the day prior, and asked, “Father? Can we visit the portrait hall before you leave?”

“Why would you want to do that?”

This time, it was Luke who hesitated. He had no idea how Vader would react to this question, but… “I want to see if my mother is there.”

The Dark Lord froze, and the temperature plummeted. Luke took a step back.

Without moving to face him, Vader said, “Do not speak of her.”

“Why?” Luke shot back. “You seemed fine telling me she was from Naboo, earlier. What’s the difference?”

“Do not talk back to me, young one,” Vader said, turning around to point a finger in Luke’s face.

“ _Why?_ ” Luke demanded.

Vader slapped him.

Luke staggered back, putting a hand to his stinging cheek, shocked.

He turned and ran, stumbling into the wall briefly as he rounded the corner. His father watched him go.

\--------

Vader internally kicked himself as he watched his only child run away from him.

 _Why_ did he have to get violent with the boy? He’d already cut his hand off, and kept him drugged, almost disconnected from the Force, for weeks. This would do nothing to endear the boy to him.

It was just so much easier to speak of _her_ when he knew Luke was only half-listening, and so much harder to refrain from being angry when he was on this accursed planet, in the remains of the Jedi Temple - now Imperial Palace - and with the Dark Side so close to the surface from the presence of Sidious. 

He began making his way to the hangar, where a shuttle should be waiting to take him back up to the _Executor_. Someone else would make sure Luke got his next dose; Force knew the Emperor would be unlikely to pass up the opportunity to have such a powerful Force user so prone to suggestion, and away from Vader’s influence.

\------

Luke took a sip of water and picked at his food, warily watching the Emperor across the table out of the corner of his eye. The man just smiled and watched him back.

The young man suddenly pushed his plate away and stood up, the chair scraping across the floor loudly.

“I can’t do this,” he said.

“Can’t do what, my boy?”

“What am I doing, I shouldn’t even be talking to you,” Luke said, turning away from him to pace.

“I can see the time with your father wears on you, dear boy. If you would finish your breakfast, I believe I may have a solution to your problem.”

Luke froze. In _any_ other circumstances, he would never even consider talking to someone who felt so vile in the Force as the Emperor did, but…

His father was the one who slapped him, the one who stole him away from his friends, who kept him drugged (although it wasn’t yet late enough in the day to rule out the possibility that the Emperor wouldn’t continue to do the same). But his father wasn’t here right now. Maybe he couldn’t _physically_ escape from the Palace, but perhaps this might be a way out of one issue.

“What problem?” he asked warily, turning to face the man.

Palpatine smiled. “I know of a way that would allow you to escape the influence of that tranquilizer, albeit for only a short time - twenty minutes, perhaps.”

 _Please_.

“Why? What’s the catch?”

The Emperor looked somehow at once offended and amused. Although focus was slowly trickling away from him already, Luke could feel that the man was mostly amused, and uncaring of the fact that Luke could tell this.

“Eat, and I’ll tell you,” Palpatine said, gesturing to his abandoned breakfast. Still staring at him, Luke sat and hesitantly picked up his fork again.

Once the plate was cleared and the cup drained, the Emperor stood, his chair only whispering across the marble.

“In exchange for a small favor, I would be willing to grant you that antidote. It’s nothing you would object to, have no worry. Merely sitting in a short meeting with me; in my old age,” he began waxing, “I find it difficult to concentrate on the emotions of my advisors as they speak to me if I wish to truly consider what they say. You would do me a great service if you could keep track of that for me and report on what you felt afterwards. Simply to ensure they remain truthful in our dealings.”

Luke took the fraying ends of his focus and tried to look at the Emperor’s proposal as closely as he could. He didn’t see anything outright objectionable in it; what could Palpatine do with such information provided by Luke that he wouldn’t or hadn’t already done with such information he’d gathered himself in the past? Besides, what great use could it be anyway, to know the emotions of someone while they gave you a report? 

Besides, if he wanted to be able to think through _anything_ clearly, he _needed_ that antidote, and his father certainly wouldn’t give it to him. He was so _tired_ of being tired all the time. This might be his only chance. He couldn’t afford not to take it.

Standing as well, Luke finally said, “Okay, I’ll do it.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke attends a meeting and goes for a wander.

Sidious poured the liquid carefully into a small cup; this had to be timed just right. Couldn’t have the boy having too much of a reprieve from the tranquilizer his father insisted on keeping him on, or he might begin thinking he could do something as bold as plan a real escape while he could think clearly. No, it was much better to only tease him with just enough time to do as the Emperor asked him to.

Handing the cup to the boy, he said, “Here, drink this.”

Skywalker looked at it dubiously for a moment, then downed it like a shot, throwing aside caution. He half-grimaced at the bitter taste, but Sidious could practically see that the boy’s brilliance in the Force, dimming after breakfast, was once again beginning to shine until it was almost painful to look at. As the brightness grew, so did his shields, tightly woven, keeping the Emperor out. No matter. Let the boy have this short reprieve; those shields will fall once the concoction wears off again.

“Feeling better?”

Skywalker nodded, then looked around, standing straighter and taking in the room fully for perhaps the first time. Sidious smiled to himself. This was all too easy.

\------

As whatever the Emperor gave him began working its magic, Luke could _feel_ for the first time just how vile the man was in the Force; he thought he was poisonous before, but now that he could tell the full force of it? Luke shored up his shields, blocking him out as completely as possible. Curiously enough, Palpatine didn’t protest at this.

“Feeling better?” was all he said.

Luke looked around the room, realizing how many Royal Guards there were lining the walls, and felt his stomach drop.

Now that he could _think_ …

Perhaps this wasn’t the best idea. He’d removed one barrier, but there were too many to even begin countering with his limited time, resources, and allies. Plus, he _really_ shouldn’t just be drinking unknown substances that are handed to him, especially from the Emperor.

Well, since he had the opportunity, he might as well use it; what if he only half paid attention at this meeting? No, no; the Alliance could use whatever information he could gather while he was stuck here, and he had to play along at least a little if he wanted another chance at clarity in the future. Maybe after--? But the Emperor was sure to keep him busy until this antidote of his wore off.

There was nothing for it. He would simply have to pay as close attention as possible in this meeting and hope another opportunity came up for him to use whatever information he could gather.

Finally, he said, “Yes. What’s this meeting about, anyway?”

“The state of the Imperial Academies. If I’m not mistaken, my boy, I believe you yourself once applied to one.”

Luke flinched at the sudden reminder of his old life, images flashing through his mind of _Tatooine, Owen and Beru,_ Biggs _, all his dreams of the stars and his father coming to take him away…_

How much had changed.

“As I said, I need you to watch carefully the emotions of the Academy Heads; I have a suspicion at least one might not be totally honest with me in his dealings. You will be a great help in confirming or denying that suspicion.”

Without saying anything further, the Emperor began walking out of the room and down the hall. After a moment of hesitation, Luke scrambled to catch up.

“So do you want me to...how do you want me to do this?”

“If you detect a falsehood, my dear boy, simply interrupt whoever is speaking and tell me. Otherwise, remain quiet.”

Luke nodded and turned his attention to the space around him. An entourage of Royal Guards trailed behind them, and more waited in the wings of the large areas they passed through. He suspected the Emperor was taking him on a convoluted route, either to show off the palace or confuse him should he try to find the way on his own later. Their footsteps echoed in the large spaces.

With all the turns they were taking through identical hallways, he definitely wouldn’t be able to navigate this way when drugged later; he only hoped the Emperor wasn’t wasting his limited time of being able to _think_. 

Eventually, they reached a set of intricately decorated red, purple, and gold doors, which were pushed open by yet more Royal Guards on each side to reveal a large, dark-wooden oval table. Around one end sat seven men in crisp grey Imperial uniforms with datapads neatly laid out in front of them. At the other was one large chair and, to the right of it, a chair like those the Academy Heads sat in.

Luke sank into the chair next to the Emperor’s and wished he was in a meeting with Alliance High Command, instead.

\-------

The meeting was, mercifully, short. All that they discussed was possible strategies to recruit more students for the Academies. One Academy Head made a request for more funding to provide standardized testing for students in the Outer Rim, but Luke quickly called him out for lying. The man had sputtered, and remained silent unless asked a direct question until the end of the meeting. After Luke spoke out against him, no one else dared to make any extra requests. All in all, pretty useless in terms of information-gathering.

But now that the meeting was over, Luke was fading fast. The Force kept slipping out of his fingers, his shields crumbling as he lost focus, and his eyes were growing heavy. His skin was cold from the prolonged proximity to Palpatine’s darkness in the Force, the temperature dropping as his shields fell and he lost that buffer against it. The walk back to his chambers was a haze of winding hallways and the red of the guards, until at last he was able to gratefully collapse into his bed, boots and all.

He missed the warmth of his father as he was dragged down, down, down into sleep.

\-------

Luke laid still when he woke, with the feeling that while time had passed, it hadn’t been too long, and that someone else was in the room with him. When his reach in the Force yielded nothing more than confirmation that he was still very much drugged, he grudgingly opened his eyes to see.

A solitary Royal Guard stood in the corner, helmet facing him, force pike in hand.

After taking a moment to process their presence, Luke cautiously sat up, watching the Guard to see if they would react. They didn’t move; he couldn’t even tell if they were breathing.

Keeping his eyes on them, he slowly moved to the edge of the bed, then got out of it. They stared at each other for a long moment, then Luke clumsily reached out in the Force again, this time managing to brush against the Guard. To his surprise, he met durasteel walls that pushed his weak brush away hard enough to make him physically step back.

“Uh, afternoon,” Luke said.

The Royal Guard didn’t respond.

“Um… Can I leave, or am I stuck in here?”

Nothing.

Deciding to just try walking out and seeing what happens, Luke crossed the room and pushed the door handle down, watching the Guard for their reaction. The only change was a shift to better keep him in their sight. When he pushed the door open, there was no protest, so he took a few steps down the hall. Nearly soundless footsteps followed him, closing the door behind them.

“I guess you’re my escort then. Do you have a name, something I should call you?”

They just stood there.

Luke’s eyes drifted to the side as he thought for a moment, pulling out the first name that came to mind. “Rakka?”

“...”

“I have to call you something, and you don’t seem to dislike it, so I’m calling you Rakka now.”

He began walking aimlessly, intending to explore as much as possible; the Alliance would surely want to know as much about the Imperial Palace as he could find out, once he escaped. Rakka followed a short distance behind him. Trying to remember the way to the meeting room just to see if he could, Luke tried to take a left turn down a hallway that seemed familiar, but when he took a step in that direction he suddenly found himself pulled back by the arm. He stared dumbly down at the red-gloved hand holding him in a tight grip, then up at the Guard’s helmet.

“Am I...not allowed that way?”

A nod.

“Okay, then…” he thought hard for a moment, sifting through the mental fog to find somewhere else to go. In a flash of insight, he remembered, and said, “Can you show me the portrait hall?”

Rakka pulled him to the right for several steps, then let go of his arm and kept walking. Luke followed, stumbling, tripping over his feet until his arm was released and he could catch his balance properly. The way to the portrait hall was simple, easy to remember - right, right, left - but it was long enough that by the time they reached it Rakka had to pull Luke away from swaying into what must have been a very expensive vase. He was fading again, but determined to stay on his feet until he saw whether or not there was a portrait of his mother here.

He walked past five large portraits before realizing asking Rakka would make the search go faster.

“Do you know if there’s a portrait of Padmé Amidala here?”

This time the Guard simply walked without physically pulling Luke after them, towards the middle of the portrait hall. Upon seeing the painting, bigger than any of the others he had passed, Luke gaped.

His mother was _beautiful_.

Her hair was laid out around her, flowers like fallen stars scattered about the curls, hands clasped over a pregnant belly holding what looked like a small carved japor snippet, a midnight cloak around her shoulders. Her dress was light blue and looked almost like water, her eyes closed and face peaceful.

At the - surprisingly gentle - prodding of Rakka, Luke sank gratefully onto a nearby bench, eyes never leaving the portrait.

“Hi, Mom,” he whispered.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke's dad comes to pick him up from his grandpa's house.

Vader stalked off the shuttle and through the rows of honor guard assembled to greet him, internally scoffing at the waste of men. He didn’t need to be met with this, especially if Sidious himself was apparently too busy to greet him himself. Besides, this would be a _very_ short trip.

He was just here for his son.

The Dark Lord ignored the assembled men and made his way through the hallways of the Imperial Palace to the room his son was staying in, sure the boy would be there at this early hour. If he wasn’t, he would be having _words_ with Sidious, or at least the Palace guards.

He gently turned the handle and pushed the door open, so as to not disturb his son. Luke lay on his side under the covers, facing the door. His eyes were closed and the blankets moved up and down slowly with his quiet breaths. Vader’s heart seized at the sight, and something that had been taut within him for the past week settled.

Carefully, he crossed the room and sat on the bed, easing his adult son’s torso into his lap, cradling him like the child he never got to see. Luke stirred, first leaning into the warmth radiating from his father’s suit, then blinking slowly awake.

“Mm, f’ther?” he said. 

He hissed when Vader pulled him closer and the Dark Lord froze. Luke’s expression turned to apprehension.

“Where?” Vader demanded.

“It’s not that big a--”

“ _Where_?”

Reluctantly, Luke untangled himself from the blankets enough to pull up his shirt and reveal the bandages wrapped around his torso.

“What happened?”

Luke winced and looked away, refusing to answer.

“Son.”

The young man in his arms sighed and, still looking at the wall, said, “I may have...underestimated the Inquisitors. It’s not too bad, honestly, it happened a couple days ago--”

“Why would you do such a thing? There was nothing to gain from it, except needlessly risking yourself. I put you on a tranquilizer for a _reason_ , my son; so you would not continue trying to escape and get yourself hurt in the attempt."

Luke grimaced, and changed the subject. “What brings you back? My friends get away from you again?”

Vader snorted. “Hardly. In fact, the princess and Calrissian practically threw themselves at me demanding information on you. It seems they noticed where you disappeared to that night.”

Luke groaned and threw himself down on the bed next to his father, covering his eyes with one arm. “Please tell me you didn’t kill them.”

“I’ve only come here to pick you up, then we are both going back on the _Executor_ ," he said, neatly dodging the question. “You can leave the rest of the robes here, there are clothes for you to wear on the ship.”

“Whatever,” came the muffled response.

“I will give you ten minutes to get dressed, then I am coming back. We will talk more about your injury after you’ve had something to eat.”

Vader left his son, closing the door behind him and standing in the hallway to wait.

He would do better this time, make it up to his son. First they had to get away from Sidious.

\---------

Luke waited until he heard the _click_ of the door closing, then reached under the mattress to pull out the bottle the Emperor had given him the previous morning.

_“I’m afraid our little reprieves will have to end, dear boy, as Lord Vader is due to return tomorrow. And since you had the antidote yesterday, I cannot give you any today; instead, I have a gift.”_

_From the folds of his robes, Emperor Palpatine brought out a small bottle, clear, holding the same liquid he’d been giving Luke after breakfast before meetings. He handed it to him, his ice-cold, leathery fingers brushing Luke’s as he took it._

_“In case you decide you’d prefer to stay here at the Palace, doing real work to improve the galaxy rather than go wherever your father drags you. Use the time this gives you to contact me.”_

He knew it had been a terrible idea to accept the antidote once he’d taken it, every time, especially since it came with the price of having to help the Emperor, but he just wanted to be able to _think clearly_. He knew it was a manipulation tactic - what else could it be? Surely if the man had the means to give him something to counter the drugs he also had the power to simply stop giving them, but of course that would make Luke too much of a liability, as he himself proved the third time the antidote was given. He had figured that his best bet would be to attempt to escape as soon as he could think, get as far away as he could before the drugs pulled him down again and left him drifting, but that plan failed before he even got out of the room. He had been left alone for two days after that and desperate enough to say yes the next time the Emperor came calling.

At least one positive came out of this disaster of a week, besides the fact that he’d been able to visit his mother’s portrait as much as he’d liked when the Emperor didn’t need him; he’d figured out the drugs were probably in the food, so all he had to do was not eat whatever was given to him, let enough time pass that the last of the fog from the previous day completely faded, and he’d be good to find a way back to the Alliance.

Or, failing that, use Palpatine’s “antidote” to get to a ship and as far away as possible. Unlike the Emperor, his father wouldn’t know to expect it and thus would never see it coming.

Luke put the bottle safely in his pocket.

He just had to bide his time.

\-----

Predictably, Luke started fading again after breakfast. His hypothesis _had_ to be correct; the timing just matched up too well.

He was then dragged to the medbay, where a doctor confirmed the slash across his torso from the Guard’s Force pike was healing well and should be just fine with bacta bandages and plenty of rest, which he had no doubt he would get.

At least his father let him stay in his own rooms this time.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke tests out an idea and sees someone new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus New Year's chapter!
> 
> Thanks to sorayume for reading over this - twice! You're wonderful, and I hope you're excited for a new-new chapter come Monday :D
> 
> To everybody else, drop a comment if you liked it, and thanks for reading!

Luke was determined to wrest more time off the drugs for himself. Vader wasn’t always able to sit with him while he ate in the mornings, and after several days without an escape attempt of any sort his father wasn’t watching him all that closely. How much trouble, after all, could he get into when he slept all the time and could barely focus on anything?

This mission, however, was simple enough to hold onto.

He was determined not to take anything Vader gave him, or ordered given to him, just to be safe. He’d get one of the officers or 501st to get him water if he really needed it. Try as Owen and Beru had, there’d been hard times a few seasons on the moisture farm. Luke knew what hunger and thirst were like; he’d be fine.

Rather than eat the breakfast that was delivered to him by a Stormtrooper, Luke waited until they left and flushed it down the ‘fresher, pouring the water down the sink. Then he went back to the couch in the main part of his rooms to wait for his father to retrieve him for the day, if he came. He was glad not to be falling asleep mid-morning again, but now that he didn’t have a fresh dose to pull him under he was realizing there wasn’t much - or really _anything_ \- for him to do, unless he wanted to run through katas or other exercises, which would just make him miss food and water all the more.

It was going to be a long day.

\-------

Unfortunately, his hunger strike didn’t make it that far. He was able to pull off a pretty convincing act, or at least he thought so, but Vader was not so easily fooled. It didn’t take him long to realize his son suddenly had a normal reaction time when an officer walked up to them on the bridge and Luke turned to look at the woman immediately.

Vader sighed. “Luke.”

“What?” Luke said, obstinately refusing to look at his father.

“I know you have done something, my son. What is it this time?”

“What are you talking about? I haven’t done anything.”

It wasn’t technically a lie. Inaction, after all, wasn’t _doing something_.

“Luke.”

He caved. Over half a day without food or water (and the resultant headache) after weeks of being drugged made him ill prepared to fight, particularly if his father was going to resort to pressing on him with the Force like that.

But it was worth the try.

“Fine, I haven’t eaten or drank anything all day, happy?” The pressure on him in the Force let up and he sucked in a deep breath.

Addressing a nearby Stormtrooper, Vader said, “Get this boy water and a meal, immediately.” To his son, softer, “Sit down, I know you must be fatigued.”

Luke sighed, but sank gratefully onto the stool some technician scurried over with. “Thanks,” he murmured to the man, embarrassed. What the crew outside of the Stormtroopers that babysat him thought of his near-constant presence on the ship and his tendency to faint if he walked around for too long, Luke didn’t even want to know.

“Father,” he said, looking up at him, “can I at least eat somewhere else, that’s not in front of the entire bridge?”

Vader seemed for a moment like he would deny this request, but he caved pretty easily too, when Luke asked for things that weren’t release.

“Yes, but someone will have to watch you.”

When the Stormtrooper came back with a tray, Vader directed him to take it and Luke to the officer’s lounge and to ensure that he actually ate and drank, then to report back. Luke would be able to rejoin him or return to his rooms afterwards, if he wished.

Luke sulked as he picked at his food, electing mostly to drink the water in the hopes that he wouldn’t fall asleep immediately. The trooper didn’t say anything, even though Luke recognized his Force signature as a guard he’d had often, and for that he was grateful. It’d be a week at least before his father even started to let down his guard again, if he ever did. Maybe Luke would let the next couple opportunities slide by, get Vader to think he was giving up.

Having eaten just enough to stave off the nausea of an empty stomach, he pushed the tray across the table. “Finished. Can I go back to my room now?”

“Are you sure, your highness? There’s still quite a lot left.”

Sighing, he took one more bite, then pushed the tray away again. “Yes. I’ll eat at dinner later, anyway.”

“Very well, sir.”

\------

Unknown days later, Luke laid across the couch in his father’s office, head in Vader’s lap, eyes closed as he listened. Vader’s fingers carded through his hair. He hadn’t been let out of his sight unless necessary since the attempted hunger strike, and Luke didn’t bother to look for opportunities to try anything else. Not that he was awake enough most of the time to look for them. Information, however, was easier to come by, as his father took him to nearly every meeting. The main issue was paying attention when every distraction shattered his focus like glass.

“Supplies are good, sir, we shouldn’t even need to refuel for several cycles yet. Prisoners are scheduled to be transferred tomorrow.”

_Prisoners? Transferred?_

Luke fought to keep the frown off his face so his father wouldn’t know he was listening. Either he’d be sent out of the room or all the way to sleep if Vader found out.

“Good, Admiral. Dismissed.”

He felt the dark sun of his father’s attention turn to him as the hand stilled in his hair, but didn’t react.

“Luke,” the Dark Lord rumbled. “I know you are awake.”

“Mm, barely,” he lied, blinking his eyes open. “Was that Piett?”

“It was nothing of your concern, my son. _Sleep._ ” Vader said, pushing the Force into the last word.

Luke fell into darkness.

\-----

The door to Skywalker's suite hissed open to admit Piett, and the boy looked up at him from the couch.

“Breakfast, Your Highness,” he said, setting the tray on the table.

Skywalker stood and moved to the table. “I tell you every day, Admiral, don’t call me that,” he said, a well-worn request long since said without heat.

“And I’ve told you, I must follow proper protocol. You are the Imperial Prince, after all. Besides, your father would not be pleased to hear you addressed without the proper respect, and I am very much invested in continuing to breathe, thank you,” Piett returned, sitting across from him. “Speaking of Lord Vader, please eat so I can go back to running his ship.”

He sighed and picked up his spoon.

Once Skywalker had cleared his plate, he went back to the couch and laid down, closing his eyes. Piett was glad the boy had finally stopped trying to escape; the ship ran much smoother when its Admiral and resident Sith could put all their focus on their duties rather than trying to keep him in line, although after his last stunt someone did have to sit with him at meals to ensure he ate.

He picked up a datapad and began reading through the ship reports from the prior day in preparation for this one. A prisoner transfer was scheduled to occur shortly, while the Prince was asleep and wouldn’t be a problem.

Alarms chose that moment to begin blaring, muffled slightly by the fact that there were none actually in these rooms that were going off.

Piett looked worriedly at the figure sleeping on the couch, then at the door. If the alarms were only in the corridors, then it had to be something that wasn’t life-threatening, although as Admiral he should really be there to deal with it. But no Stormtrooper had come to relieve him of babysitting duty…

The boy was falling asleep already; surely he would be fine by himself for a few minutes. He needed to figure out what this emergency was and deal with it, and hope it had nothing to do with the prisoners.

With one last look at the Prince, he left, and the door locked behind him.

\---------

Through the darkness that was creeping into his thoughts, leaving him drifting, Luke heard the door hiss open and that annoying alarm-like noise that had been on the edge of his consciousness suddenly become louder before it was muffled by the door shutting again. Blearily, he sat up and rubbed at his eyes.

The Admiral was gone.

He blinked. He was _alone_.

Before the thought could slip away from him, Luke stood, ignoring the dizziness, and stumbled to his bedroom to retrieve the bottle of antidote the Emperor gave him. It had been a while since he had last had it, although he couldn’t quite figure out the exact number of days, so it should be fine. He downed it, grimacing at the bitterness, then went to the door out of his rooms.

_Now how to get the door open…_

Just as he thought it, mind still slow from weeks on the tranquilizer despite Palpatine’s antidote, the door slid open to reveal R2D2.

“Artoo?” Luke said, baffled.

R2 beeped excitedly and began rolling down the hallway, presumably expecting Luke to follow. Shaking himself again, he ran after the droid.

“How did you find me? What are you doing here? Who else is here?” he asked, breathing heavily and leaning against the wall for support once he caught up.

The astromech trilled and beeped, but he couldn’t quite parse out the binary. Something about the Princess and being glad to see him.

“Is Leia here?”

R2D2 didn’t answer, instead rolling up to the wall and connecting to the interface, doing something that closed off the hallway behind them. On the small screen next to him, words scrolled.

“I SAW YOUR NAME IN THE DATABASE WHEN I RELEASED PRINCESS LEIA. WE WILL MEET HER AND LANDO CALRISSIAN IN THE HANGAR, CHEWBACCA IS WAITING IN THE FALCON.”

“Lando? Were you not able to go ahead with the plan to rescue Han?”

“I WILL EXPLAIN LATER. NOW WE MUST GO.”

With that, R2 disconnected from the wall and rolled away, continuing down the hallway. Luke followed.

Somehow, they didn’t run into any Stormtroopers. He had a bad feeling about that, but he forgot all about it when they reached the hangar and he saw his friend.

“Luke, is that you?” Leia cried, running to hug him. He caught her with an _oof_ , laughing.

“Leia! Oh, I started to think I’d never see you again!”

“What happened to you, you’ve been missing for weeks!”

They separated from their hug but continued to hold hands. He glanced at the hallway behind them, still thankfully empty, but he could feel a bunch of troopers headed their way.

“What are you waiting for, come on! Chewie’s gonna take off without you if you don’t hurry up!” Lando shouted, hanging out of the _Falcon_.

“Not now, we have to go. I’ll catch you up on the way.” Luke said, letting go of Leia’s hand.

As soon as they climbed up the ramp into the _Falcon_ , rows of troopers stormed into the hangar, the static of stun shots buzzing around them as the ramp closed. Within moments, however, they were off, without so much s a tractor beam holding them back.

Luke collapsed to the shouts of his friends the moment they entered hyperspace.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rebels and Imperials alike explain themselves.

“Explain yourself,” Vader growled. To the outside observer, Piett appeared passionless, but Vader knew inside he was shaking. It was almost a pity the man was too useful to simply execute as he would have any other officer.

“My Lord, the Prince was asleep, or least I presumed so. I didn’t think he would notice my absence, much less be able to open his door.”

“I would have thought that everyone on this Force-forsaken ship would have learned _not to underestimate my son_ , _or_ his Rebel friends.”

Piett swallowed. “It will not happen again, my Lord.”

“Pray that you get the opportunity, Admiral.”

He turned sharply, cape twirling with the motion, and stalked to his customary spot at the viewport. Closing his eyes, he reached out with the Force for his son.

After a heart-stopping moment, he found him. Luke’s presence was muted, a sleepy dim sun that curled around his touch on reflex. He sighed, and loosened his fist. His son was alright, if far away and traveling further. Soon he wouldn't be reachable at all.

Drawing back, Vader looked out at the stars as if he was visible somewhere among them.

Perhaps it had been a mistake to allow them to leave the hangar. He hadn’t allowed anyone to fire upon the _Falcon_ once it took off with his son aboard to avoid injuring him further, and with the tractor beam offline somehow there was nothing else they could have done. Although how he and his friends had avoided the Stormtroopers in the corridors was still beyond him, along with how his son had managed to throw off the influence of the tranquilizer long enough to escape. Maybe it had been those precious few moments he’d taken to order the troopers to set their weapons to stun only that had allowed for such a clean getaway.

“Captain,” he said, turning suddenly to face the man, who paled. “Have the Prince’s rooms searched. I want to know how he got out, and anything else you can find. Bring me the footage as well.”

The Captain saluted and scurried off, and Vader returned to looking at the stars. He sighed.

He’d find a way to get his son back. Luke would mess up again; he couldn’t avoid his father forever.

\--------

“He’s waking up, step back.”

Luke blinked his eyes open to see two people, who he only recognized after a moment as Lando and Leia.

“Leia?” he asked, voice crackling from disuse.

“Luke,” she said gratefully, sinking to her knees at his bedside. “What happened, are you alright? You just collapsed.”

“Oh,” he said, gaze drifting. “That happens.”

“That happens?” she asked incredulously. “What do you mean? Are you hurt?”

“It wore off, I just need to sleep it off,” he said. His eyes closed.

Leia tapped his cheek. “Don’t fall asleep. Tell me why you collapsed.”

He took a moment to think how to phrase it. “Vader kept me...drugged. All the time. Almost all the time.”

“Were you interrogated?”

He shook his head. “No, it was just so I wouldn’t escape. The Emperor let me off it sometimes, though.”

“ _Force_ , Luke,” she gasped. “For all this time?”

“How long’s it been?”

“Four and a half weeks. We saw you get crowned Imperial Prince on the Holonet about a week after your disappearance, but you didn’t look pleased to be there. I wasn’t sure what happened to you after that since we didn’t see you again. We were worried.”

“I’m fine, ‘m just tired. It’ll wear off by tomorrow morning and I’ll be back to normal.”

“Alright, if you say so,” she said dubiously, brushing the hair out of his face. “Do you want to keep sleeping now, or…?”

“No, I can get up,” he said, sitting up to prove it. “Where are we going?”

“We’re gonna rejoin the Rebellion, and hopefully put together a new plan to rescue Han.” Lando said, leaning against the bulkhead with his arms crossed.

Leia stood. “I’ll have to speak to High Command first, tell them what happened with Luke so they don’t think he defected.”

“They think I defected?” he asked, trying to focus through the mental fog. This was too important.

“No, no - well, I don’t know what they think, it’s been over a week since I last spoke with them.” Leia said.

“I’m going back to the cockpit,” Lando said, pushing off the wall.

“How long until we get there?” he asked, turning to Leia.

“Several hours yet. Luke, if you really want to sleep more that’s alright. We don’t have much to do, unless you’re up for a game of dejarik.”

Luke took a moment to process all this. “Sleep sounds good.”

He laid back down and closed his eyes. She kissed his forehead, then he heard her footsteps fade.

He let the darkness swallow him whole.

\---------

“Where did you say he is?”

“He’s in the crew quarters, I’ll show you,” Leia said, walking quickly alongside the medic.

When they reached the room, Luke was still asleep. The medic kneeled beside him and ran her medscanner over his body. When it was done, it beeped. The medic frowned.

“He’s mostly alright, but it doesn’t look like he’s had much physical activity for a while, and there’s an unknown substance in his system that’s acting as a tranquilizer.”

“Is it alright to wake him?” she asked.

“Likely. We’ll need to know how much he knows about it.” Addressing Luke, the woman said, “Commander Skywalker? Commander Skywalker, I need you to wake up.”

Luke blinked his eyes open and stared at the medic for a moment before he responded. “‘m up.”

“The Princess said you’d been kept drugged these past weeks. Do you know with what?”

He took a moment to think. “Something that makes me tired. And I can’t really touch the Force.”

“When’s the last time you took it?”

“I don’t know what time; shortly before we all escaped.”

The medic nodded at her, indicating she wanted to talk to Leia, and moved to stand, but Luke continued.

“I also took something that counteracted the effects of the tranquilizer for a short time and allowed me to escape, but I don’t know what that’s called either.”

The medic looked horrified. “You took a substance you don’t know anything about _while on another drug you don’t know anything about_? Commander Skywalker, you could’ve died!”

“It’s fine,” he said, blinking, “the Emperor gave it to me a few times. I timed it right.”

She traded another look with Leia, and stood. “Well, Commander, I think you’re due for a stay in the medbay. We’re going to have to watch you for the effects of withdrawal from that tranquilizer, and any possible side effects from the drug interaction. Do you know why you collapsed?”

He waved a tired hand. “That just happens when the antidote wears off and the tranquilizer takes effect again, it’s fine.”

She pursed her lips. “Excuse us for a moment.”

The medic grabbed Leia’s arm and dragged her out of the room. The door closed behind them. “Okay, what was that? The _Emperor_ gave him something? Multiple times?”

“I know just as much as you, I’m sorry. I can’t believe it either.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I knew it would be bad when I heard he’d been in Vader’s company for several weeks, but this…” Changing the subject to more solid ground, she said, “I’d wager he collapsed because he tired himself out running around the ship, if he’s really been sedated for so long. His stamina’s going to be shot for a while, even once he detoxes. I don’t like the fact that whatever they had him on messes with his connection to the Force, either. Not sure what we can do about that, though, besides wait it out and hope it gets better in time. Luckily, he doesn’t seem otherwise injured.”

“So he’s alright to move to the medbay?”

“Yes. If he can clear 24 hours without showing signs of withdrawal he should be fine, although after several weeks I don’t doubt he developed an addiction. How long ago did you escape?”

Leia thought for a moment. “About seven hours ago.”

The medic nodded. “I’ll get him transferred to the medbay and have someone watch him until tomorrow, then.”

As the woman walked away, presumably to have someone bring a stretcher for Luke, Leia looked back at the door.

 _Please be alright,_ she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus begins part 2! Do I know how long this fic is gonna be? Absolutely not. But I'm writing chapter 12 right now and it's looking to be a while yet...
> 
> Drop a comment and tell me what you think!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke wakes up and his day swiftly goes downhill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright folks, here we go: withdrawal time.  
> There was some googling but this is probably in no way medically accurate, especially as there are artistic liberties taken to include the Force and for the ~drama~, so yeah.  
> Thank you to everybody who commented, y'all make my days 🥺

The man delivering trays to the Rebels in the medbay noticed Luke was awake as he set the tray on the small table next to his bed, and paused.

“How are we, Commander Skywalker?” the man asked.

Luke sat up. “What time is it?”

“About six PM, sir. You were brought in two hours ago. Do you know where you are?”

“Yes.”

“Mind telling me, just to be sure?”

“Alliance base on Felucia.”

The man nodded, satisfied, and made to walk away. “Enjoy your meal.”

“Wait!” Luke said, “When can I leave?”

“You’ve gotta clear 24 hours without withdrawal symptoms first, then we can talk. But you’re more than welcome to have visitors in the meantime; I’m sure the Princess would be happy to know you’re awake.” He left.

Luke looked at the small table beside him and saw a commlink. He picked it up and turned it over in his hands for a moment.

He’d spent so long with only one thought on his mind - to escape - that it was strange to suddenly have the ability to just call his friends over. Stranger still to have the Force at his fingertips again, to be able to feel the light of every being in the base as they moved about their day. It was almost overwhelming, actually.

Experimentally, he lifted the commlink with the Force. It went into the air fine, but the moment he tried to rotate it, pain like a pulled muscle ignited in his head and he hissed, dropping it. He held his head in his hands and closed his eyes. The lights still glowed just beyond his vision.

Footsteps rushed over. “Skywalker, you alright? What happened?” the man with the trays asked.

Luke waved him off with one hand, eyes still closed. “Just...probably shouldn’t use the Force for a bit. I don’t know. The drugs I was on messed with my connection and it hurt.”

“Do you want me to call a medic?”

“No, I’m fine.” He opened his eyes and took a deep breath, then looked at the man. “I’m fine.”

He looked dubious, but accepted it. “Alright. You’ve got a checkup in a couple hours anyway; talk to your medic about that.” He left again.

Sighing, Luke picked up his tray and began picking at the rations laid out on it. His stomach twisted at the thought of eating, but he forced himself to take a bite anyway. This food wasn’t drugged. It would be fine.

It would be fine.

\--------

“Alright Skywalker, you should be clear to go. Take it easy, and comm us if you need anything or feel any more pain.”

“Thank you, will do,” he said to the medic. She scribbled something on her datapad and walked away.

“Ready to get out of here, Luke?” Lando asked. Luke nodded.

“Definitely.”

Lando slung one of Luke’s arms over his shoulders and helped him walk out. As they crossed the threshold of the medbay, a shiver went through him and he turned around to look. It felt like something had flashed green and black, running across the hallway behind him.

That was strange. He’d never felt _colors_ in the Force, before.

Lando glanced down the hallway as well. “What is it?”

“I don’t know,” he said slowly, eyes scanning the hallway for some sign of what just happened. “I just have a bad feeling.”

Although he wasn’t looking at him, Luke could feel Lando frown. “About what?”

“I don’t know,” he said again, turning to the Baron with pleading eyes.

“Well, how about we get you settled in your bunk and figure out what you’ll be doing while you’re recuperating, then we can figure out what the issue is. Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

The rest of the walk to the bunks was quiet. They only ran into a few other people, none of whom paused to talk to them. When they reached Luke’s room, however, one of the lights in the Force resolved into Mon Mothma, waiting for them with hands clasped in front of her.

“Commander Skywalker, it’s good to see you up and about,” she said, smiling.

“Hey Senator, Luke just got out of the medbay, mind if we get him to his bunk before you start interrogating him?” Lando said.

“Of course,” she said diplomatically, stepping aside. “And this won’t be an interrogation, don’t worry.”

Luke’s stomach twisted with anxiety anyway. He reached out with the Force to figure out why, if Mon Mothma had an ulterior motive in mind, but it slipped out of his grasp like water. Frowning, he came back to himself and realized Lando had settled him on the bed. Mothma sat on the only other chair in the room. Lando stood, leaning against the bedframe by Luke, arms crossed.

“I know you didn’t choose to remain with the Empire, Luke,” she began, “but the fact remains that you were with them for quite a while, and crowned Imperial Prince. Did they ask you for any information on the Alliance?”

Luke shook his head. “No, but the Emperor took me to meetings sometimes in the week I was on Imperial Center.” Seeing the interest on her face, he shook his head again. “It was never anything important, just short meetings on things like funding for Imperial Academies. I don’t remember much, anyway; I was kept drugged almost all the time. Sorry.”

“That’s alright. Is there anything you _do_ remember? What happened after Imperial Day? We didn’t see you again on the Holonet.”

“I went to meetings with the Emperor some days, and then after about a week Vader picked me up again and kept me on his ship.”

Mothma tilted her head. “Why would he do that? I don’t doubt they could’ve kept you just as secure on Imperial Center, especially...as you were.”

He couldn’t tell her Vader was his father. She might start actually suspecting him of treason, would ask him a million questions he wasn’t ready to answer. It felt like he had just accepted the fact that he was his father; there hadn’t exactly been a lot of time to process it, especially not to the point he was comfortable telling other people.

“I don’t know,” he lied, “I do think he wanted to keep me away from Palpatine, though.”

Luke internally cursed himself. Why couldn’t he just leave it at “I don’t know”? He put a hand to his head. Maybe he still wasn’t thinking straight…

“Alright, I think the Commander has had enough,” Lando interjected before Mothma could reply. “He’s fresh out of the medbay, and you’ve asked your questions. Time for you to leave.”

She stood. “Thank you for your time, Commander. I look forward to seeing you around.”

Lando uncrossed his arms and looked down at Luke. “Hey, what’s wrong? Got another bad feeling or somethin’?”

“I don’t know…” he said, squeezing his eyes shut and hunching over.

“You might just be tired from the walk and conversation. How about you rest, and I’ll see if Leia’s free to talk to you later, alright?”

“Yeah, maybe.” He laid down and pulled the blanket over himself. The Force whispered directly into his brain. He tried to ignore it.

The next morning, Luke blearily made his way to the mess hall alone. He had struggled to fall asleep, probably from all those weeks of doing almost nothing but. Eventually he had tired himself out pacing his room, glad that as a Commander he didn’t have to share his bunk and thus had no one to disturb. The Force was still loud, a constant, unintelligible murmur in his ear, distracting him.

“Hey, Luke!” someone called. He reacted on instinct.

Their body slammed into the wall before Luke realized what he was doing and dropped them, horrified. It was Wedge, the last survivor of Red Squadron.

“Wedge, kriff, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thinking--” he said, rushing over.

“Jeez Luke, that’s certainly one way to say hello,” Wedge joked, sitting up and groaning. “Knocked the wind out of me.”

“I’m sorry,” he said again.

Wedge waved him off. “It’s alright. You’ve been with the Empire for a while, being a little jumpy is reasonable. I’m just glad you’re back.”

“Thanks.”

He stood awkwardly as Wedge got up, unsure what to say. Aside from the questioning from Mon Mothma, he hadn’t had to carry a conversation since his father kidnapped him.

“Want to get breakfast together?”

“Sure.”

They collected their trays and Wedge led him to the Rogue’s table. Everyone started chatting excitedly amongst themselves and Luke tuned them out, instead scanning the mess hall. He just had this feeling still…

“Hey. Luke,” someone said, snapping their fingers near his face. He jumped, banging his knee on the table. He started trembling, even though he wasn’t cold. “You--hey, you okay?”

Luke shook his head. “I don’t--I don’t know. I’ve got this weird feeling…”

“You look hot,” Wes said, frowning. He pulled off a glove and put a hand to Luke’s forehead. “Kriff, Luke, you’re burning up! I thought the medbay cleared you?”

Still shivering, he said, “Y-yeah. Yesterday.”

“You should probably go back, you don’t look good,” Wedge said.

“I-- I don’t--”

“We’re taking you back to the medbay,” Wedge said firmly. “Come on.”

Wedge and Hobbie helped him stand, and together with Wes they escorted him to the medbay.

“We need a medic for Commander Skywalker!” Hobbie shouted. A woman, the same medic that had cleared him the day prior, hurried over.

“Put him over there,” she said, gesturing to an open bed. “What happened?”

“He came to breakfast kinda jumpy - threw me into the wall, actually - then wasn’t paying attention to the conversation. He said he had a weird feeling, and his skin is hot and he’s been shaking for a few minutes,” Wedge explained as Luke laid down, pressing his face into the pillows.

“Commander, is there anything else you’d like to add? Any other symptoms, things out of the ordinary?”

Turning his head to the side so they could hear him, Luke said, “I couldn’t, couldn’t get to sleep last night, but I just figured that was because that’s all I’ve been doing the past few weeks, and I had this weird feeling yesterday, too.” 

“Weird how?” the medic asked.

“Like something’s wrong, or it’s going to be. In the Force.”

She cursed. “I should’ve realized. If that tranquilizer you were on affected your connection to the Force, it makes sense it would show up in your withdrawal symptoms. I’m just surprised they took so long to develop.”

“What can we do for him, doc?” Wes asked.

“There’s not much, since we don’t know what it was to ease him off it. The only option is for him to ride it out, but I don’t like the idea of having an anxious Jedi on our hands, not to mention the fact that a sudden withdrawal can be dangerous. Ultimately, there’s just too many unknowns.” Addressing Luke, she added, “Skywalker, do you want me to get the Princess for you?”

Luke nodded into the pillows.

“Alright. Janson, you can do that. Klivian and Antilles, you’re more than welcome to sit with him.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adventures In The Medbay, ft. Wedge! Luke is not doing well and Leia learns something new

Luke was shivering again, mumbling something in his restless sleep. Leia brushed the sweaty hair from his forehead and pulled the blanket up on him. The Rogues had long since left for bed; much as they’d wanted to stay, they had to report for duty in the morning. The war didn’t stop just because one man was injured.

“No, please,” Luke said clearly, then fell back into muttering unintelligibly.

“How’s he doing?” Wedge asked, standing beside her.

Still watching Luke, she said, “Not much better. He finally fell asleep, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he woke up again soon.” 

They had tried giving him pain meds, but they wore off rather quickly. The medic said she’d read something that said Jedi could clear substances from their systems and suspected Luke was doing it, perhaps thinking that the pain meds were that tranquilizer again. There was nothing Leia could do for him besides be there.

“And how are you?” he asked. “You’ve been up for hours, Leia; you need sleep, too.”

“But Luke--”

“Luke’s not going anywhere, your Highness. He’s got medics watching him, and if you really think someone else needs to, too, I can get one of the other Rogues. But you need to rest.”

She sighed, and looked back at Luke again. “I don’t know; I just worry.”

“How d’you think Luke would feel if he knew you were doing this to yourself? He’d want you to sleep.”

Leia closed her eyes, and a tear slipped out. She stood. “Alright. Just for a couple of hours, then I’ll be back. I don’t want him to wake up and not know where I am.”

“Does he even know where _he_ is?” Wedge muttered.

\------

He heard Wedge and Leia, but it was as if they were underwater; he couldn’t understand what they were saying. Much louder was the Force in his ear, all the eddies and swirls of Rebels moving about the base and, beyond them, on the planet at large. He felt their emotions, though; worried.

Why were they worried? What was happening? He should get up--

“Lay back down, Boss, no one’s going anywhere,” Wedge said, gently pushing him back down. He fought his way to full awareness.

“Wedge, what’s, what’s wrong?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re worried, and Leia just left.”

Wedge shook his head, laughing a little. “We’re worried about _you_. Think you can go back to sleep?”

Luke looked around the medbay, then through the walls to the lights walking around the base beyond, before he refocused on Wedge. “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

“Anything hurting?”

“No, I just...”

“Have that weird feeling still? It’s probably just the withdrawal, Luke, don’t worry about it. Whole base is still on alert from when you came in a couple days ago, and it looks pretty quiet - ‘least, as quiet as it ever is. What were you dreaming about a minute ago?”

“My father,” he said quietly, staring past Wedge. His flesh hand curled around the prosthetic.

Wedge noticed. “And Vader?”

He just nodded.

“Vader can’t get you here, you’re safe. We’ve got you, Luke.”

Out of curiosity, wondering how far away he was, Luke reached out beyond all the lights of the Rebels in the base and into the stars beyond the planet. He searched for the dark sun of his father and as it turned to him he came close to brushing against it--

“Luke. Luke!” Wedge was shaking him. He felt off-balance and latched onto the man physically and in the Force, blinking harshly when Wedge’s thoughts started rolling through his own mind.

_Corellian Hells, what was that? Some Jedi thing, or is there something wrong with..._

“ _Luke!_ Come back to me, Boss.”

Luke shook his head a little and refocused on the world around him, settling back into his own head. “What?”

“You blanked out on me. You feelin’ alright?”

“For how long?”

“I dunno, a minute? Long enough to be freaky. Were you doing something, or…?”

“I don’t know. I tried to; maybe it was that.” It was difficult to keep his attention on his friend when the Force was pulling on it, distracting him with all the lights and colors, and sounds he couldn’t quite make out.

Wedge stared at him a minute. “If it happens again I’m calling a medic.”

“Maybe-- Maybe call them now.”

“Sure, Luke.” He pressed the call button next to Luke’s bed. A medic walked over a minute later.

“How can I help?” she asked, looking between Luke lying on the bed and Wedge sitting next to him. Wedge turned to him, prompting him to speak.

“The Force is so loud,” Luke whispered.

The medic looked to be at a loss. “We don’t have anything on how to treat things like that, Commander, I’m sorry. Do you want us to try sedating you…?”

“No,” he said immediately. “No. Please.”

“Alright. All I can really do is make a note of it, I’m sorry. Does it hurt?”

“No, just - I keep getting lost in it.” Looking out past the walls, he said, “I can see everyone moving around on base, and if I try I can see the rest of the planet.”

“ _Force,_ ” she breathed, and scribbled something on her clipboard.

“He blanked out a minute ago, too,” Wedge interjected. “Should we be worried about that?”

The medic pursed her lips. “It might have been an absence seizure; we’ll have to watch him in case he has another. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was, honestly. If he starts having convulsions, call me immediately and ensure he doesn’t hurt himself.” With that, she left.

Wedge snorted. “Fat lot of help they’re being, huh Boss?”

Luke didn’t respond. He was drowning in the Force again.

\------

Vader snarled as the light of his son suddenly vanished. He’d just noticed the boy reaching out to him when he disappeared; not enough time to ascertain anything about his condition.

He whirled around to Piett, who stiffened.

“Admiral, any leads on Skywalker’s location?”

“No, my Lord. Nothing new.”

He turned back to the stars and reached out again for Luke.

\--------

The medbay was bustling with all the daytime personnel and visitors when Luke began convulsing.

He had been chatting with Leia when he suddenly collapsed and his limbs jerked.

“Medic!” she shouted, pulling the table away from his bed. She was pushed aside to make way for the medics, and couldn’t see Luke until after he’d settled and began coming back.

“What’s he saying?” a medic asked. 

Leia shoved her way back to him in time to hear, “ _Vad-- Father_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a shorter chapter this time, but I gotta leave you in suspense!  
> I've got this written through chapter 14, so even though I'm back at college now updates shouldn't stop or anything, but we'll see how it goes. If you enjoyed, drop a comment! They make my day :)


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia and Mon Mothma have a conversation, and Vader watches a video

“Did he just say Vader and _father_?” Leia gasped. The medic pursed her lips.

“I don’t know, your Highness.” Addressing Luke, she said, “Commander Skywalker, can you hear me?”

Luke turned to face them and blinked his eyes open but didn’t quite seem to focus on them.

“Commander, what did you just say?”

“Fath’r,” he slurred.

“Before that.”

He looked confused, and made a questioning noise.

“You started saying something else before you said ‘father’; _what did you say?_ ”

“Luke,” Leia said, drawing his gaze to her. “Did you say _Vader?_ ”

He nodded, closing his eyes. “Father.”

“ _Corellian hells_ ,” the medic breathed, a hand on her chest. Leia thought quickly.

“Don’t breathe a word of this, you hear me?” she said harshly, standing. “I’m going to talk to High Command.”

Leia walked quickly out of the medbay, mind awhirl.

Luke had been acting differently since his confrontation with Vader at Bespin, of course; but that was understandable. Leia herself had changed after being tortured by the man on the Death Star and watching her planet blow up. He was the creature of her nightmares. Why wouldn’t Luke struggle with having lost a limb to the man who had done so much evil in the world, not to mention the fact that he had captured and tortured Luke’s friends as bait?

But to think…

No. No. It wasn’t possible. Luke’s father was the great Jedi Anakin Skywalker, and he was long dead. Besides, what kind of father would cut off his son’s hand? Clearly there was something else going on; yes, there had to be another explanation…

Mon Mothma would make sense of it.

She reached the door to Mon’s office and knocked. “Mon? Could I speak with you for a moment?”

Mothma answered the door. “Leia, what can I do for you?”

“May I come in?”

“Yes, of course.”

Her office was grey as the rest of the base, but with the luxury of a large desk, two comfortable chairs, and a couch. Red and blue banners lent color to the stark walls, and organized piles of paper dominated the desk.

She closed the door behind Leia, who sank gratefully into the chair opposite Mon’s desk. “It’s Luke.”

“How is Commander Skywalker?”

“Not well, Mon. He’s anxious, feverish, and there’s something odd with the Force with him. But that’s not what I’m here for. He said something that made me worried…”

“What was it?”

Leia hesitated, wondering how to phrase it. “He said ‘Vader’ and ‘Father’ as if they were the same person.”

Mon sat back in her chair, eyes distant. “That might make sense, actually…”

“ _Excuse me?_ ”

She looked back at Leia. “I’d long suspected that Vader had been a former Jedi - Anakin Skywalker. I recognized his fighting style from Clone War holos. I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if he was, indeed, Skywalker. This explains why Luke was crowned Imperial Prince so quickly, as well.”

“Do you think he always knew that Vader was--” Leia said, incensed.

“No, no, I doubt that,” Mon said thoughtfully. “He was so proud to be the son of a Jedi; I doubt he would talk too much of his father if he knew it was Vader.”

“Luke never did talk to us about what happened at Bespin…”

“Well, I can imagine why, if he found out about his parentage there; especially as, from what little Skywalker _did_ tell us, it was his father that cut off his hand.”

Leia stood, unable to sit anymore. “What are we supposed to do with this information?”

“You tell me, Leia - you are the one who came to me, after all. I believe our issue at the moment is the Commander’s health.”

She began pacing. “But doesn’t this change things? Luke-- Luke’s the son of our _enemy_!”

“Leia, we’ve had plenty of defectors with Imperial family. I don’t see why Skywalker would be any different,” Mon admonished.

Leia stopped and faced the Senator. “Will the rest of the council see it that way?”

“Do you?”

She froze. “I--”

Mon’s face softened. “Leia, I know it must be difficult to reconcile your good friend and the man who tortured you, but this doesn’t change anything about Luke himself.”

Sighing, Leia sat back in her chair. “I know. I know. It’s just...difficult, especially with Han gone and Luke ill as he is. He just had another seizure, before I came here. I’m worried about him.”

“I understand. Perhaps this can be used to our advantage, however; I spoke with Commander Skywalker the day after he first arrived, and he said he suspected Vader was keeping him from the Emperor, and didn’t even ask him any questions about the Rebellion. That bodes well for us - it suggests that Vader may have more allegiance to his son than to the Emperor. That could be a way in for us.”

“You would use Luke to sway Vader to our side?” Leia asked, surprised.

“In essence, yes. He might also get better medical care than we can provide, if Vader agrees to work with us.”

“And what if he doesn’t?”

“We have his son,” Mon said, her face unreadable. “That fact can easily change.”

\------

Vader pressed the button to play the footage again.

It didn’t show him anything new. Luke laid down, Piett left after a nervous glance at the boy, Luke got up again and drank something, then R2D2 opened the door.

He turned the empty, unlabeled bottle in his hands. It was the only thing out of the ordinary found in Luke’s rooms, but analysis hadn’t revealed anything about its contents other than its similarity to the tailored tranquilizer he’d kept his son on. The footage from the suite showed that it seemed to counteract the tranquilizer.

The footage ended, and he looped it again.

Where had Luke gotten this bottle? The only Imperials Vader allowed to watch his son when he wasn’t there were those he personally trusted and had vetted, and none of them had access to substances tailor-made to affect Jedi. He’d made sure to keep Palpatine’s men away from the boy, and anyone who might be on someone else’s payroll. The only other option would be…

When he had stayed with Palpatine for over a week.

Yes, it was entirely possible Palpatine had given him something to counteract the tranquilizer. It would have made the boy easier to manipulate than simply taking him off it, after all; keep the boy half-helpless and angry, give himself something to dangle over Luke’s head. That was exactly the kind of thing Palpatine would do.

He growled and clenched his fist around the small glass bottle.

More infuriating was the fact that he couldn’t reach the boy. Wherever the Rebels kept him, it was too distant for him to tell anything more than that Luke still lived. That is, unless Luke opened his end of their bond - unlikely, given the circumstances.

He’d felt Luke reach out to him, earlier, but just as the boy brushed against him he pulled away sharply, leaving Vader bereft. Further reaching for his son sparked pain and he’d quickly withdrawn.

And now he couldn’t feel anything.

His musings were interrupted by the beeping of the commlink at his belt. He answered it,

“What?”

“My Lord,” came the staticky voice of Piett, “One of our spies from the Rebellion has made contact and requested an audience with you.”

Vader started, shocked. His pulse quickened. Could it be…?

“Put them through, Admiral.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed, drop a comment! They make my day :)


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke and Leia go somewhere, and Vader gets his call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uuuuhhhhh idk what to say here lol. I've read the next several chapters so much they barely look like a story to me anymore.
> 
> Enjoy, and leave a comment if you liked it! They make my day.

Leia slipped into the medbay at night, when all was quiet. No one questioned her presence; it had been near-constant in the three days Luke had been struggling with the effects of withdrawal.

She went immediately to his bedside and was only mildly surprised to find him lying awake as she began bundling his few belongings into a bag.

He sat up, fists curled in the blankets. “Leia? What’s going on?”

“We’re leaving, Luke,” she said, not looking at him.

It wasn’t that she thought Mon or High Command would do anything to Luke while he was in the medbay, necessarily, but...she just couldn’t imagine the monster that slaughtered Rebels daily and had held her back while her planet was destroyed would bargain with the Alliance, even with Luke on the line.

“What? Why? Is--is something happening?” He paused for a moment, staring at the wall before continuing, “I don’t see anythi--”

She shushed him, a finger on her lips. “Quiet, Luke, please. It’s just you and I.”

Finished gathering his things, she gently untangled his hands from the blanket and tugged him out of the bed. “Come on, get your shoes on.”

After an anxious glance towards the dim light of the medics’ office, he complied.

Looking at him now, it was hard to recall the horror and...betrayal she’d felt upon learning his parentage. Luke was still the same boy she’d befriended and grown to trust so much; he was still her best friend. Still Luke Skywalker, even if his father was now calling himself Vader.

She felt more betrayed by the Alliance her parents - her _planet_ \- had given their lives for threatening to try to use him, and to throw him away if it didn’t work.

She wasn’t going to risk her friend’s life on the mercy of a man who had shown time and again that he had none.

“Where are we going?” he whispered as they left the medbay.

“Shuttle.”

Just as they cleared the doorway, a medic spotted them.

“Hey, where are you going? He doesn’t have clearance to leave!”

She pulled her blaster out of its holster and shot off a stun bolt before the man could say anything else, and pulled Luke down the hallway until they reached a more populated area, and let go of his arm.

Leia nodded at the few people they passed but didn’t slow down, and no one else tried to stop them. They boarded a former-Imperial Lambda-class shuttle and Luke collapsed in the co-pilot’s seat, breathing heavily from the walk, as Leia took the controls, quickly running pre-flight checks then lifting off.

The comm crackled to life. “Lambda shuttle, you are not authorized to leave the base. Return to bay five immediately or you will be fired upon. Repeat: You do not have authorization to leave the base. Return to bay five immediately or you will be fired upon.”

“Hang on,” Leia said through gritted teeth. The shuttle roared as it shot forward before they could be stopped.

Once they were in hyperspace, she turned to see Luke was shaking.

“Luke, are you alright?”

“It’s so quiet,” he said, putting his head in his hands. “The base was so loud and now it’s so quiet.”

“In the Force?”

He nodded.

“Do you know any Jedi or anyone who would know about Jedi issues that could help?”

“Yoda, in the Dagobah system, but I left even though he told me not to to go to...Bespin…”

Her heart squeezed in her chest. “Oh Luke, I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine.”

He looked at her sideways. She could see the fear rising in him in the flush creeping up his cheeks and the increased tremble in his limbs.

“C-can’t imagine w-what…?” he said nervously, looking up.

She put her hand on his shaking arm. “Luke, I know about your father.”

He moaned and put his head back in his hands. “You must hate me.”

“No, Luke, never.”

He looked at her distrustfully. Leia continued, “I _know you_ , Luke. And you didn’t know about Vader until recently - right?”

He shook his head and folded his hands in his lap. “Bespin.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Why did—Why did we leave? Just now,” he said, changing the subject.

Leia retracted her hand, hissing air in between her teeth, and looked out at the viewport, avoiding his eyes. “I talked to Mon Mothma…”

“No…”

“They didn’t think you betrayed them!” she rushed to reassure him, turning back. “But she wanted to…use you as leverage against Vader. She thought that…threatening you might sway him into cooperating with the Alliance.”

“We can’t go back there.”

“No,” Leia said sadly. “I don’t think so, at least not right now.”

She noticed Luke was still flushed and shaking. Concern knitting her brow, she said, “Would you like to go lay down? Or have something to drink or eat--”

“No, I’m good,” he said too quickly, interrupting her. “I’m not hungry.”

“Are you tired? You weren’t sleeping, and you must be tired from walking to the shuttle. We’ve got a couple hours in hyperspace yet.”

“Can I just stay here?” he asked.

“That chair can’t be comfortable to sleep in--”

“ _Please_.”

She stopped. Maybe all her nervous fussing wasn’t helping.

Leia wished she’d thought to grab at least some kind of painkillers in case Luke started getting bad again - they’d left in such a rush she’d really only considered food, water, and clothes. Not that painkillers would help him much, anyway; they hadn’t in the medbay, and there was no reason to think the ship would be any different.

“Sure, Luke. I’ll just get you a blanket.”

She got one out of the equipment locker and draped it over him before retaking her seat. Luke curled up and stared out the viewport into the lines of hyperspace. She did the same, deep in thought.

\------

“Report.”

“My Lord.” The spy, dressed in Alliance mechanic’s coveralls, saluted. His small blue hologram flickered. “I heard that Commander Skywalker arrived on base here several days ago, and has spent most of that time in the medbay.”

Vader growled. “Where is _here_? And what do you mean, he’s been in the medbay?”

“Rebel base on Felucia, my Lord. I don’t know what he was put in medbay for, but I heard he threw a pilot into a wall a couple days after his arrival. It’s possible there was an altercation and he got injured. Sir.”

_Threw a pilot…? That was extremely unlike everything he’d heard and seen of his son…_

What could possibly have happened that Luke would throw one of the Rebellion’s pilots into a wall? He himself was a pilot; it might have even been one of his friends.

Perhaps the boy had woken up and thought he was still with the Empire and, panicking, tried to escape again. Force knew Luke had had no scruples about pulling dangerous stunts in hopeless bids for escape. But to be in the medbay for several days afterwards? Just how injured was he?

This was troubling. He needed to be back with his son immediately, figure out what happened.

“Where is Skywalker now?”

“Still in medbay as far as I know.”

“Ensure he stays there, or I will be _very displeased_. I am on my way to your location now. Dismissed.”

He ended the call without waiting for a response, then stalked out of his rooms, door hissing open. He had a son to regain.

\-------

Luke woke with a start, surprised to have fallen asleep at all. The blanket slid off his shoulders as he sat up and he clutched it tight, trying to stave off the cold. They had exited hyperspace and the Force was distracting him again, but the planets were far enough for their lights to be dim rather than nearly overwhelming. He didn’t recognize any of them.

“Where are we?” he asked, voice rough from disuse.

“Bright Jewel sector.”

“Ord Mantell?” he asked, frowning at Leia.

“I...haven’t decided yet,” she admitted. “We’ll need to pick up supplies and see if we can find you a medical center, but we can’t exactly use Alliance contacts.”

Luke sat up straighter. “No medcenter. If they find out I have the Force, they’ll report me to the Empire.”

“I know,” she said, chewing on a nail in thought. “And I’m sure the Empire is on the lookout for their Imperial Prince; we’re just too recognizable. But we do need supplies. I couldn’t take much. Are you sure that this Yoda wouldn’t be able to help?”

He shook his head. “I doubt he’d want to see me,” he said, curling his prosthetic into a fist, then loosening it. “Besides, he lives on a swamp planet. Not much to speak of in terms of supplies, medical or otherwise.”

“What about…” she trailed off, not looking at him. He felt her hesitation hanging thick in the air, coating his tongue. Whatever she was going to say next, neither of them were going to like it. “What about V--your father? He must know how to fix your withdrawal problem--”

“He kept me drugged for _weeks,_ Leia!” Luke said, standing. The blanket fell on the floor. “I don’t--I can’t go back to that. What about the Emperor, since we’re apparently considering Imperials now? He had something to counteract it--”

“No!” Leia said, aghast. “Luke, that’s the _Emperor_! He’s _evil, vile_ \--he’s against literally everything we stand for!”

“Like Vader’s much better! Or did you forget he _tortured_ you--”

At the sight of Leia’s face, he deflated. He sat back down. “Oh, Leia, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to--”

“No, you’re right,” she said, not looking at him. Quieter, she added, “I just don’t know where else we can go, and I had just hoped that maybe he would...be of _some_ use, since he kept you away from the Emperor. Enemy of my enemy is my friend, and all. But you’re right. That would be too far.”

Luke felt the brush of something purple to his right and whipped his head around only to see empty air. He reached out in the Force, but there was nothing there. He shivered, and pulled the blanket back up around himself. Their ship hung in space, directionless.

\---------

Vader seethed. “What do you _mean_ , he’s _gone_?”

The spy pulled at his collar even though Vader hadn’t even _done anything to him yet_. “My Lord, half the base is in an uproar. Skywalker and the Princess just...left, overnight, without telling anyone.”

Vader paced. “Is there any hint to where they could’ve gone? Could you find a way to track their ship?”

“They stole a Lambda-class shuttle, my Lord. I can hack into the database and find its tracking number.”

“See that you do. Forward the information to me immediately.” He cut the call and slammed the comm down on the desk. The moment he got that information, he would make the spy _pay_ for allowing his son to slip away.

Of course it could never be that simple. Especially now that Luke was off the tranquilizer and more able to make plans for escape.

He stared out the viewport of the meeting room he had gone into when his spy called, and reached again for Luke--

\-------

Although he was still sitting, Luke suddenly felt dizzy and nauseous.

“Leia,” he said, beginning to uncurl from the chair. She turned to him just as the world went dark.

\-------

\--and pulled back at the pain shocking his limbs.

A connection had been made, just. It was barely enough time to get an idea of his son’s location, but it would have to be enough. His son must be heavily injured for contact to hurt that much, and he couldn’t risk hurting the boy further without knowledge of what happened.

He strode out of the room, back to the bridge “Admiral, take us to the Bright Jewel system.”

“Yes, my Lord.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia (reluctantly) makes a call

Luke came to with a headache, and the feeling of the world slowly tilting around him. After a moment, he registered the fact that he was lying in Leia’s lap.

“Luke? Luke?”

“Mm?”

“Are you alright? What happened?” she sounded worried.

“Wha’...happened? W’d’you mean?” he slurred, blinking open his eyes.

“You seized again.”

“Mm.” He closed his eyes again. “Tired.”

He felt her worry like she was screaming it in his ear and he frowned. “‘So loud.”

“There’s nothing making noise except the engines, Luke.”

_What’s wrong with him, we never should’ve left, maybe I should--_

He interrupted her thoughts. “You. Thinking.”

Her shock was deafening and he turned away from her as if that would help. It didn’t. He couldn’t block her out, either, her emotions were louder than his rudimentary shields could muffle.

After a moment, a solid wall slowly formed between them, at once steel and safety, immobile as a mountain. It felt like her at first, then faded out of his perception until her thoughts were completely silenced. 

He went limp, and let himself fall asleep.

\--------

Luke relaxed and fell asleep, blissfully still. It had been terrifying to watch him fall out of his chair, convulsing after calling her name. The medics hadn’t done much besides ensure he didn’t hit his head when he did this in the medbay, but they’d also said something about the seizures not being an issue as long as they were under a certain time. She hadn’t been keeping track, nor did she remember what that time limit was before she should worry.

Her own stomach was twisted up in knots. Thank Force she’d remembered that meditation technique she’d been taught as a child. It was meant to make her able to keep a straight face in the Senate no matter what emotions were swirling inside, and it seemed that had done the trick to quiet her thoughts for Luke.

Leia glanced guiltily at the commlink up on the control board.

She couldn’t bring Luke to Ord Mantell - someone would recognize them and turn them in to the Empire, or they’d tell the Alliance where they were, and then Luke be handed over to the Empire and she’d be handed a court-martial. And it wasn’t like there were other nearby planets that would be much better, or anyone to call, except…

She held Luke tighter, cradling him to her chest for a moment. He wouldn’t like it - hells, _she_ didn’t like it - but she might not have any choice but to take the chance. Luke needed help, and she had no way of providing it that didn’t lead back to this horrible decision anyway.

The entire galaxy knew the face of Imperial Prince Skywalker. There was nowhere to go, and nothing to do except pray that Mon’s judgement was correct.

Leia fumbled for the commlink and stared at it a moment. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, steeling herself, before punching in the number from Luke’s wanted-alive posters.

When the blue hologram appeared, she panicked and ended the call before it could go all the way through, breathing heavily as if she’d run.

_I can’t do this, I can’t do this…_

_I_ have _to do this._

She typed the numbers again and forced herself to stay on the line when the image of Darth Vader appeared, setting aside her fears at seeing the specter from her nightmares. She had faced the Senate time and again; she could do this. This was for Luke.

“Princess Organa. How unexpected.”

She froze, unable to reply.

After a short pause, he continued, “I assume you are with Skywalker?”

Leia steeled herself again, and spoke. “I do not trust you, and I can’t believe I’m actually doing this, but Luke needs help. Now. And there’s not...really anyone else we could call that wouldn’t lead straight back to you.”

“Why not stay with your pathetic Rebellion? Were they too underfunded and disorganized to provide medical treatment for his injuries?”

“There wasn’t much they could do for him, because of _you_.”

“Me?” If she thought he had any human emotions at all, she would’ve thought he sounded almost...surprised at that.

Her stomach dropped. _But then, I suppose, he had to have at least some feelings besides bloodlust and rage if he cared for Luke at all._

“Of course! You kept him drugged for a _month_ , and when they found out--” She cut herself off and pursed her lips, glancing away. To say it out loud to Luke was one thing, but to--to his _father_ , was something altogether different. Her head hurt from the dissonance between her image of him as a monster and as someone with a child.

“Found out what?” Vader growled lowly.

“Do you care about Luke?” she said instead.

“What?”

“Do you care about Luke? Or is he just a pawn in your and the Emperor’s games?”

“That is irrelevant,” he said immediately.

She gritted her teeth, wishing there was another option. In her lap, Luke murmured something incomprehensible and shifted, reminding her what was at stake. “No. Answer me: _do you care about him or not?_ I know--I know he’s your son.”

Vader paused. After a moment, he said simply, “Yes.”

Leia exhaled. “He needs medical treatment; he’s been having a bad time of withdrawal. Can you get him that, without the Emperor finding out?”

“I am already tracking your ship. I should be there within the hour.”

She quickly disconnected the call and held Luke tighter, holding back tears. “I’m sorry,” she whispered into his hair. “I had to.”

He was still thankfully out cold by the time the _Executor_ loomed over their shuttle and swallowed it whole, not even reacting to the jolt when they were pulled into the empty hangar. However, the moment Leia saw the door hiss open through the viewport, admitting Darth Vader, Luke began to stir. He curled closer to her and his mouth moved, though he made no sound.

By the time Vader was walking up the ramp, Luke was blinking open his eyes and trying to sit up.

“Leia, Vader’s here,” he whispered. She didn’t respond, just watched the door to the cockpit. He watched it too, and he started trembling again.

\---------

When the door opened, Luke flinched back. Vader’s breathing filled the air. No one spoke, except for the Force whispering in his ears.

After a moment, Vader knelt down and touched Luke’s face. He flinched again, eyes flickering around every few seconds. There were _so many people_ on this ship - more than had been on the Rebel base…

“My son,” Vader rumbled, drawing his attention back to the man in front of him.

His father was a swirling miasma of darkness in the Force, a cold fire reaching out for him. Within the darkness, though, were small points of light. It was like a galaxy of stars, so close and yet distant enough to be _blissfully quiet_. The Imps outside the hangar were louder than him. It was just enough of a spot of peace that Luke accepted his nearness.

“They’re so loud,” he breathed.

“Who, my son?”

“ _Everything._ ”

“He’s been saying that for days. I don’t know what he means,” Leia said next to him.

He felt his father inspect him in the Force, and he mentally poked at the tendrils of darkness running along his arms, his head. They gently held him still, as if Vader had physically caught his wrist.

“What are his injuries?”

“Injures?” Leia’s shock speared him and he grimaced. “It’s just the withdrawal, he hasn’t been otherwise injured.”

Without warning, Vader scooped his trembling form out of Leia’s arms, and he struggled. “No.”

Leia stood as well. “Where are you taking him?” she demanded. He could feel her distrust of his father taint the air.

“My personal medbay.”

“No, no, no,” Luke said, reaching out desperately for something, anything, to stop Vader. When he tried to pull on the ship with the Force, hoping to find something loose enough to throw at the Dark Lord, his head ignited in pain and he hissed, letting go and curling in on himself as much as he was able.

But that wasn’t going to stop him. He couldn’t let Vader - let his _father_ \- take him and drug him again, he’d gone through all this pain to get it out of his system already--

His flailing in the Force latched onto Leia and he held tight, trying to ground himself in the connection. Her energy was soothing, steady; stable as a snow-capped mountain, a breath of fresh air amid the crowded chaos of all the lifeforms on the ship, and far warmer than Vader. Her thoughts were much smoother than his own.

He felt his father start in shock, and he stopped. Luke just breathed, and tried to focus on Leia, blocking the rest of the ship out.

“What?” Leia demanded.

“Are you Force-sensitive?”

She lifted her chin. “Why would I even tell you if I was?”

“Come,” Vader said, moving again. Luke tried to squirm out of his hold but was held still by the Force. “It would seem a conversation is in order.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At last, Luke is back with his father, but what's this?! Leia with the Force?? What a mystery...
> 
> If you liked, leave a comment! They make my day :)


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vader has a solution for the withdrawal problem, but Luke won't like it.

Vader set Luke gently down on an examination table, but didn’t unfreeze him. Leia sat next to him and took his hand. Luke calmed at the contact, and was granted control of his limbs again. He immediately sat up, but was held back from getting off the table by a hand on his arm.

“Luke, you need medical attention. This was the only way. I’m sorry,” she whispered. Her regret fell on him like tears.

Exhausted from the constant fight to escape, he nodded. What was the point? There was no one to get them off this Star Destroyer even if they did manage to escape Vader’s watchful gaze. At least this time he had Leia with him.

“Why would _my son_ ,” Vader demanded, hands on his hips, “latch onto you in the Force like that, Organa?”

“Because we’re good friends and neither of us like you?” she shot back.

“No. It is more than that. Have you ever been taught anything with the Force, meditation techniques, shielding?”

“I was taught how to keep my emotions in check in the Senate, is that what you’re looking for?”

“Show me.”

Again, Luke felt that wall go up between them, then Leia vanished in the Force. When it cut him off, the cold of his Father’s signature grew deeper. The lights of everyone on the ship seemed brighter, louder, and both thoughts of those on board and whispers of the future came rushing into his head. He covered his ears for all the good it would do. Fear wound its way through the entire vessel, so thick on the air it coated his tongue.

He was _so tired of this._

Vader seemed to be too focused on Leia to notice. “As I suspected; you have incredible shields. I’m not surprised you managed to go unnoticed in your years at the Senate.”

“Leia,” Luke pleaded. She finally noticed his distress.

“I’m only here because of Luke,” she said.

“What happened? I heard he was in the medbay for several days after a fight but not why,” Vader said, helmet tilted towards Luke again. He felt his father’s curiosity filter through his shields.

“He’s suffering withdrawal from the drugs _you_ put him on, like I said. Our medics couldn’t really do anything for him since they didn’t know what it was and he kept clearing pain meds out of his body. I didn’t know where else to go, otherwise I _never_ would have called you.”

“So you left your petty rebellion looking for me.” Vader was pleased, darkness curling around Luke briefly.

Leia looked away. “We left because High Command was going to use him to try to get you to work with them. I didn’t think you would. But once we realized there was nowhere else to go, I hoped you would at least help your son without strings attached.”

Vader didn’t respond, simply approached Luke. “And what do you have to say for yourself, young one?”

“The Force is so _loud_ ,” he said again, dropping his hands into his lap. It was useless, anyway.

“I understand,” Vader said, quieter. He reached out to Luke in the Force, and Luke reached back, like holding their hands up to opposite sides of a glass, the way they had that first week of Luke’s imprisonment. He marveled at the seemingly infinite darkness, peppered with those stars. “I often felt that myself, as a child. I can teach you to block it out, to only focus on the important things.”

“What about the withdrawal?” Leia demanded.

Still looking at Luke, he responded, “The best solution is to re-introduce the tranquilizer, then ease him off of it. It should take two weeks, and he would not have the side effects.”

“ _No,_ ” Luke said, dropping the connection and physically backing away. He felt his father’s sadness at the loss, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He’d just gotten out, he couldn’t go back so soon, no, no, _no_ —

“Luke,” Leia broke into his thoughts. “It may be the only way. Watching you go through this has been _terrifying_. I’ll be with you the whole time.” She glared at Vader, daring him to contradict her. He was briefly contrite, but tilted his helmet in a nod. She turned back to him. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

“Okay,” Luke whispered.

“I will retrieve a med droid to calculate a dose.” Vader left.

Luke began crying, hot tears running down his cheeks. Leia opened her arms and he fell into them, sobbing. She just held him.

Shortly, his father returned with a cup of clear liquid.

“What’s that?” Luke asked distrustfully, voice thick with tears.

“The tranquilizer.”

“It wasn’t—it wasn’t in the food?”

“No.” He could feel Vader’s amusement.

“Oh. So I guess my idea didn’t even work, then.”

Vader set the cup beside them on the examination table. “No, it would not have, even had I not caught you; you cannot survive long without water.”

Leia looked at Luke curiously, but didn’t ask, just squeezed his hand.

Damn. There really was no escape from this, was there? He couldn’t avoid drinking water forever, and the Force was so _loud._ This would, at least, give him the quiet he was becoming desperate for.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself, then cautiously took a sip. It tasted like regular recycled water, albeit slightly different from Alliance water. Fresher, maybe.

“Wait,” he said, lowering the cup and looking up at his father. He didn’t have to just do whatever Vader said without question. “I want a guarantee that you’ll tell me when it’s regular water and when it’s not. I want to know what I’m drinking.”

Vader tilted his head in acquiesce.

“I’ll hold him to that,” Leia said, eying the man distrustfully.

Luke nodded and forced himself to take another drink, hand trembling. Before he swallowed it, he spit the poisoned water back out, shaking his head.

“No, no, I can’t do this, I can’t—”

“Luke.”

At his father’s voice, he froze, tears still glittering on his cheeks. He stayed still as Vader gently, gently laid a hand on his cheek.

“It is dangerous to try to go through the withdrawal, my son. It will be easier to do this, and it’s just two weeks.”

‘Don’t make me,” he begged. Necessary or not, quiet or not, he couldn’t face that _numbness_ again, fighting for every scrap of awareness and sensation.

He felt his father’s pain through the Force, echoing his own, but there was no thought of giving in in Vader’s mind. It had been made up.

“It is just two weeks, Luke, and Force won’t be so loud anymore.”

“Yeah, ‘cause it’ll be _gone_ —”

“Please.”

His father cared for him. He felt it. It made the stars in his darkness shine brighter, warmed Vader’s presence a small amount. And Leia was right beside him, promised that there she would stay.

Luke took a shuddering breath, and lifted the cup again.

He took a sip, then another, until the entire cup was drained. Already he could feel the Force quieting, the lights of all the lifeforms on board dimming as it slipped away from him. He finally stopped shaking, and leaned against Leia, closing his eyes. Finally, the Force wasn’t screaming in his ears, pouring information directly into his brain.

Then it kept slipping away from him, dulling beyond normal. He squeezed Leia’s hand tighter. She squeezed back. She was still here. She was still with him. She wouldn’t slip away.

“I’m right here, you’re alright. I won’t leave you,” she was whispering.

Good. That was good. That was…

Sleep, so elusive over the past week, finally claimed him and he sank into the abyss.

\---------

“What was your plan?” Leia was shouting. “Were you just going to keep him drugged forever?”

“No,” Vader growled.

“Then when were you going to take him off it? Or did you not _think_ that far ahead?”

Luke swam up from the depths of unconsciousness slowly, his senses coming back online one by one. First to trickle in was the sound of Leia and his father fighting, then the heaviness of his body registered. Tiredly, he noticed he was warm for once, even amidst the cold swirl of his father’s signature. He burrowed deeper into the blanket.

Vader said something about Palpatine, to which Leia shot back, “And then you _kept him on them for a month!_ You were so content with finally having Luke you didn’t kriffing _think_! Of _course_ Palpatine is going to take advantage of that, of _course_ _drugging him was going to hurt him_!”

“Nng,” Luke said, not bothering to open his eyes. They immediately stopped talking.

“Luke, are you alright?” Leia asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Tired,” he mumbled. “What’re you arguing about?”

“Nothing.”

He frowned. That was clearly a lie, but reaching out to discern what she was thinking about just reminded him that he couldn’t really use the Force at the moment. It fell out of his fingers like sand. “Not nothing. You...were shouting.”

“We…” Leia glanced at Vader. “Had a discussion about how this is going to work, if you and I are going to be stuck here for the next two weeks.”

“You will not be leaving,” Vader growled, taking a step forward. Leia shot him another look, full of venom, and he stepped back.

“As a show of trust,” she continued, turning back to Luke, “he’s going to help us get Han back. And he was just leaving.”

“We’re going to Tatooine?” he asked, sitting up.

“Yes. Soon.” Turning to Vader, she said, “I believe your Admiral called you?”

“Yes,” he ground out. Leia made a shooing motion, waving him away. 

He came over to Luke and reached out as if to card his hand through Luke’s hair, but Luke weakly slapped it away. He let it fall back to his side before he said, “But I will be back as soon as possible, my son.”

He left, the door whooshing shut behind him.

Leia sat next to Luke with a sigh, and turned to him. “No one but the Admiral knows we’re here, and if we’re to hide from the Emperor it’s going to have to stay that way. Vader can’t drag you to his every meeting anymore; you get to stay with me.”

“Thanks,” Luke said, relieved. He leaned against her. “I couldn’t focus enough to actually listen, anyway.”

“I think he was just keeping you in his sight, Luke.”

“Mm. But I tried. Might as well use opportunities you’re given to gather intelligence, right?”

“True. But I don’t think we’ll be going back to the Alliance anytime soon.” She sounded sad.

“I’m sorry, Leia.”

She sighed again, and laced her fingers in his and squeezed before letting go. “It’s alright, Luke. At least we’ll have Han back and you healthy again by the end of all of this.”

“Think he’ll let us go?” he asked, looking up at her.

Still staring into the distance, a sliver of her unease trickling through the fog of his mind, she said, “I hope so.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia and Vader go on a trip; Luke does too!

“I’ll be back soon, with Han,” Leia said, holding his flesh hand for a moment. She looked so strange in a bounty hunter’s guise, hair tied back in a simple ponytail and a helmet under one arm.

Lying on the couch in the first room of his suite on the Executor, Luke nodded, limbs heavy from a recent dose. He was glad to not be dragged around the ship wherever Vader went, to be able to rest as his body begged him. “I’ll be here.”

“Admiral Piett cannot stay with you; we must keep up appearances as much as possible to ensure the Emperor does not learn of your presence here. As your friends,” Vader said, clear disdain for the word - either the concept, or Luke’s friends specifically - evident in his voice, “will be with me, can I trust you will not attempt to escape?”

Luke lifted his hands, palms up and fingers spread, shrugged a little and let them fall. “What could I do like this? Where would I go?”

Vader snorted. “I have long since learned not to underestimate you, young one. Very well. If you need anything, comm Two-OneBee or myself. You have the commlink?”

He lifted his wrist, displaying it. “Hard to lose it.”

“Good. We will return soon.”

His father hesitated, as if there was something else he wanted to do or say, then swept out of the room. With him gone, the room warmed, and the only presence in the Force Luke could feel was Leia.

“Get some rest, Luke. And stay out of trouble.”

He breathed out a laugh. “I’ll try.”

The door hissed shut behind her, and the small keypad beside it beeped as the light above it turned red, locking him in.

\----------------

Luke was startled out of a dreamless sleep by the sound of the door hissing open.

Were they back already? He must’ve been asleep a long time if Leia and his father were able to go down to Tatooine, negotiate with Jabba, and come back before he woke.

His shoulder was shaken harshly. He frowned. That was rude—

“Get up, Skywalker.”

That voice wasn’t someone he knew.

Luke opened his eyes to see a Stormtrooper and inhaled sharply in surprise at their proximity, jerking back. No one but Admiral Piett was supposed to know he was even here, much less the code to his rooms. Who—

“I said get up,” the man hissed, physically pulling him to his feet. Luke swayed, mind and body still not quite catching up to what was happening. “We’re gonna go for a little walk, ‘ _your Highness_.’”

“Where—” Luke croaked, staggering as he was pushed forward with a blaster to his back.

The man paused at the door, taking the blaster off him for a moment to enter the passcode. “I’m sure the Emperor would appreciate having you back, Jedi.”

Oh.

Well, it couldn’t be that bad, could it?

Last time, Emperor Palpatine had given him something to counteract the tranquilizer. And what had he done, really? Taken Luke to meetings that he could actually participate in, listen to? Let him rest or wander the halls nearly as he pleased, spending hours in the portrait hall drinking in that image of his mother?

He stumbled in front of the Stormtrooper as he was pushed out of the room.

And soon Han would be back, and—

Right.

Not on Imperial Center. And the Emperor just wanted to use Luke, turn him to the dark side like his father. He had a better chance of escaping all that from a ship than at the heart of the Empire.

Luke thumbed the comm on his wrist, trying to call Vader, but the Stormtrooper seized his arm and twisted it behind his back, making him gasp at the unexpected pain.

“What’s this? A commlink? I don’t think so,” the man said, ripping it off his wrist. Luke hissed; the comm really wasn’t designed to be pulled off like that. The trooper ground it beneath his heel, crushing it before pushing him along again.

Soon they left Vader’s private wing and entered more trafficked hallways, the man keeping Luke’s arm twisted up behind him and the blaster digging into his back hard enough to bruise.

“Come on, come on,” he muttered under his breath. Droids and other Stormtroopers passed them, but not one gave them a glance. Another trooper escorting a prisoner must not have been anything noteworthy on Darth Vader’s flagship, even if that prisoner was unbound.

Luke was fading fast, the long walk tiring him out. His breaths became heavier. He stumbled, listing into the man, who shoved him away. Unable to catch himself in time, Luke crashed into the wall with an _oof_.

Irate, the man yanked him to his feet again. Luke leaned heavily on him.

“What’s wrong with you?” he hissed into his ear. Luke grimaced and closed his eyes, turning his head away from the man’s foul breath.

“Can’t...walk that far,” he managed.

The man scoffed. Under his breath, he said “Bet you don’t know the way to the hangars, either…”

He had better try to contact Leia, at least. He had been able to reach out to her at Bespin…

Luke reached out for the warmth and iron will of his friend on the planet down below, and just barely brushed against her signature when his concentration was shattered by the man spinning him around, headed the other direction. Determined, he reached out again and managed to make enough of a connection to send _Leia_ before they suddenly stopped.

“Alright, Skywalker, tell me you know where the hangars are.”

It took Luke a moment to refocus on his surroundings enough to respond. “You don’t? I thought you were taking me to the Emperor or whatever.”

He shook the young Jedi. “Just tell me where it is.”

“How should I know?” he said sullenly. It wasn’t like he got to walk around wherever he pleased; he was just dragged wherever his father wanted him to be.

He reached for Leia again.

_Help—_

The man hissed in displeasure and pulled him along again, stumbling.

_Someone’s trying to—_

\---------

Duke may have been just one of many low-level spies, meant to keep watch over Lord Vader’s erratic decisions and report back when he strayed too far from his goals, but he was going to make a name for himself. He was going to be of use to his Emperor; he was going to bring the Imperial Prince back to Imperial Center where he belonged.

Skywalker leaned heavily on him, the boy’s eyes half-lidded as he dragged the “Prince” through the hallways. They were stopped in their tracks by a Stormtrooper with subtle blue stripes decorating the white armor.

“Hey, is that Skywalker? Could’ve sworn he left over a week ago; didn’t know he was back with us.”

“Yeah,” he grunted, shifting the near-dead weight of the supposed Jedi. “I’m taking him to the hangars. Lord Vader’s orders.”

“Hangars are back that way, and shouldn’t he be going to his rooms, anyway? Seems like he’s about to faint again.”

“I—”

“Here, let me help.”

“No,” Duke said, pulling the boy back, out of the trooper’s reach. Skywalker stumbled, tripping over his feet.

The trooper paused. “What’s your designation, trooper?”

“DL-4583,” he answered smoothly. He may have been new to the ship, but he knew his cover story.

“How long have you been here? I don’t recognize you. Lord Vader doesn’t trust Skywalker to shinies.”

 _Damn._ He sounded suspicious. Why wouldn’t he just leave Duke alone?!

Skywalker chose that moment to pass all the way out, quietly crumpling and almost bringing Duke down with him.

“I’m going to need you to come with me, trooper. You seem a little turned around; let’s get that sorted out.”

Without responding, he hefted Skywalker over his shoulder and ran, the Stormtrooper shouting behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The characters have been fighting me on the chapter I'm writing, so if I end up with a hiatus after next week's update don't be too surprised. I'll try to avoid it though!
> 
> Drop a comment if you liked it; they make my day. Thanks for reading! :)


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rescues are had all around!

Leia stood beside Vader in Jabba’s throne room, disguised in bounty hunter’s garb. She used the anonymity of the helmet to stare at Han across the room as Vader and Jabba “negotiated”, and to help hide her unease about being so near the - what had Luke called him? - Sith.

Her skin crawled, memories of her torture on the Death Star on loop in the back of her mind, but she forced them back. She had to be here. She had to ensure that Han got rescued, and she did _not_ trust _Vader_ to do it. Luke needed medical attention the Alliance couldn’t provide, so unfortunately she’d had no real choice in going to Vader, but damned if she wasn’t going to leverage his apparent...affection for Luke as much as she dared. If he was willing to rescue Han in an attempt to make it up to Luke, she was going to ensure that he actually did it.

“I am taking Solo with me; it is up to you if that is in exchange for credits or blood,” Vader growled, drawing her out of her thoughts.

Jabba said something in Huttese she didn’t understand, translated by his lackey as, “The honorable Jabba does not want to give up his wall decoration; he likes Solo right where he is. He is not for sale.”

“I am not asking,” Vader said darkly, igniting his saber. “I will leave with the smuggler.”

Without warning, she felt a flash of muted worry and exhaustion. She shook herself. It wouldn’t do to lose her focus here; once Vader got Han, Han would need her. He was likely going to be suffering from carbon sickness and unable to see - a dangerous prospect in a palace full of enemies. Especially when their next destination was little better.

_Leia._

She blinked. That sounded like...Luke?

A moment later, another burst of feeling, this time clearer, and a cut off plea for—

 _Help_ —

“Luke,” she gasped.

“What?” he snapped, turning his anger from Jabba to her. She stood her ground.

“Luke—”

_Someone’s trying to—_

Leia gasped again, clutching her chest at the fear that speared through her. Oddly, she felt something dark and cold surround her, demanding entry into her mind. She blocked it out without thinking.

“What about Luke?” Vader demanded.

“We have to, we have to go,” she breathed, dropping her hand and looking around the throne room. Luke wasn’t there, of course, only Jabba’s mercenaries and thugs. “I’m getting Han, we need to get back to Luke.”

Suddenly she lost all sense of Luke, whatever connection they had severed. She straightened and glared at Jabba.

“Admiral Piett,” Vader said into his commlink, “lock down the ship. No one goes on or off except myself until I return. Ensure my guest is secure.”

“Leaving so soon, Lord Vader?” Jabba’s lackey translated.

“We don’t have time for this. I’m taking Han, and we’re leaving,” she said, drawing her blaster and firing it at the nearest mercenary.

Vader swung his lightsaber as the rest of the room opened fire, deflecting bolts that came near him and killing anyone foolish enough to get within range of the blade. Leia fought her way to Han, hissing when a bolt grazed her shoulder. She fired back at the thug that shot at her and they crumbled to the floor, dead.

When she reached Han’s carbonite slab, she hit the button to defrost him and half-hid behind it, blasting anyone that came close. 

The carbonite glowed orange as it slowly melted, Han’s fingers twitching as they met open air.

When enough had evaporated away, he fell to the ground before she could catch him, groaning.

“Han!” Leia fell to her knees beside him.

“Wha—Leia? That you?”

“Yes,” she said, putting a hand to his cheek. “I’m so sorry, Han.”

“I can’t see anything. Why can’t I see?” He was panicked.

“It’s just hibernation sickness, you’ll be alright.” Glancing up at the firefight still going on around them and firing off a few shots herself. “We’ve got to go get Luke; something’s wrong.”

“Princess, you have him?”

Hearing Vader’s voice, Han said, “I’ll say something’s wrong. What’s tall, dark, and asthmatic doing here? And what’s up with the kid?”

“I am here for Luke’s sake, not your own, smuggler. Come, we must return to the ship.”

Leia draped one of Han’s arms around her own shoulders and hefted him up. “Alright, let’s go. Cover me.”

She helped Han out of the throne room and up the stairs as Vader swung his lightsaber behind them, deflecting blaster bolts back into their firers.

\-----------

The “stormtrooper” went down like a sack of bricks when Rex hit him with a stun bolt. Unfortunately, that meant Skywalker went down, too, and he winced when the kid hit the floor like a ragdoll, rolling a little on the polished durasteel.

Small price to pay to ensure the Prince didn’t leave the _Lady_ again. Besides, he was passed out anyway, probably didn’t even feel it.

Rex cuffed the rogue trooper’s hands behind his back and propped him against the wall. Vader would certainly take his time dealing with the man, probably making the interrogation as long and painful as possible for trying to take Skywalker away.

Speaking of which, Lord Vader would not appreciate _him_ for letting his son potentially get injured.

He pulled the Prince up and propped him against the wall, too, with much more care.

The boy had escaped over a week prior - it was hard to forget the uproar on the ship when it happened, and the deaths that followed in the wake of Vader’s anger. He’d been safe; clones were dwindling in number nowadays as they were “phased out”, but Vader kept the 501st around for their loyalty and good service. 

The question was, how and when had the boy gotten back on the ship? If he was fainting and being snuck off, then surely Vader knew about his return.

Wasn’t for him to question. His job was to keep Skywalker alive and well, and on the ship, and that’s what he would do.

“We won’t tell your father you took a tumble, huh, Skywalker? He doesn’t need to know; it can be our little secret. Sound good?”

The boy didn’t respond, but he didn’t expect him to. When he fainted like that he was usually out for a good five minutes.

Rex shook his head as he straightened, smiling a little. If any prisoner was going to cause this much trouble, especially while constantly sedated, it would be his General’s kid. Skywalkers just didn’t know how to stay down.

He stood over his two charges, and settled in to wait for Lord Vader’s return.

\------------

Vader felt his son’s muted signature and cursed. He wouldn’t be able to figure out what situation Luke was in until he saw the boy himself, and Luke wouldn’t be able to defend himself from any threats.

For the second time in as many days, he regretted keeping his son on the tranquilizer.

It had kept him by his side - at least until Palpatine’s interference - but it left him defenseless. As soon as he was able, he was going to train Luke properly. The forced compliance was not worth it.

Organa was focused on her smuggler, kneeling beside him in the back of the shuttle. The two were whispering to each other, foreheads touching, reminding him of their display in the carbonite chamber on Bespin. He could feel flares of their emotions; shock, horror, worry, devastation. He blocked them out.

He should have simply left Solo to rot in Jabba’s palace, but he had to make it up to Luke somehow, get him to trust his father. If that meant rescuing the loudmouth smuggler, then so be it.

Finally, the ship entered the hangar. Vader stormed off as soon as they landed, adrenaline still buzzing in his veins from the firefight on Tatooine, leaving Organa to help Solo walk out behind him.

“Take Solo back to Luke’s rooms; the med droid can treat him and yourself. I will retrieve _my son_ myself.”

Organa bristled, but accepted it, glancing down at the blaster wound on her shoulder as if she’d forgotten. “Fine. But I can’t find my way around this ridiculous ship; I need a guide of some kind.”

He waved her off. “One of my men will take you.” Addressing his troops, “Hatch, take her and Solo to Skywalker’s rooms and _ensure that they stay there._ ”

“Yessir.” The small group peeled off.

When he arrived on the third floor, as Piett directed him, it was to a quiet scene.

Captain Rex, helping a bleary Luke stand, straightened up as best he could while supporting the boy. “Sir, the perpetrator has been stunned. He’s right behind me, trooper DL-4583. I cuffed the trooper and ensured Skywalker was alright until you arrived. He fainted; he’s just waking up.”

Vader spared a momentary glance at the stunned trooper, then took his son from Rex and held him close, cradling the back of his head. He would deal with whoever had dared to try to steal his child later.

Luke’s presence in the Force brightened as he woke up a little more. Vader sensed him blinking confusedly at the lights so near his face, and saw Luke lift his head to look at him.

“Fa..th’r…?” he asked, voice slurred with exhaustion.

“I am here, my son,” he said as quietly as the vocoder would allow.

He felt Luke struggle to not try to escape his father’s embrace, and felt the boy slump back into him as he gave up.

“Thanks,” he sighed, closing his eyes once more.

It wasn’t trust, but it was a start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww, ain't that sweet, now the whole gang (and family) is together.  
> Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed, drop a comment! They make my day :)


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revelations are had, and plans must shift as someone comes a-calling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to PadmeLuna and Liv-from-discord from the SWC discord for reading over chapters 17-22 for me, I really appreciate it! Haitus avoided for the forseeable future. On with the show!

Leia stood from her place on the couch next to Han as the door hissed open to admit Vader, carrying a passed-out Luke in his arms.

“What happened? Is he alright?”

“A Stormtrooper attempted to kidnap him. I will have the med droid assess if he has any injuries in a moment,” Vader said shortly, not pausing on his way to Luke’s room.

Leia followed. “He’s just asleep, right?”

“Yes,” he said, laying Luke on the bed with a gentleness she never expected of the Dark Lord.

She noted Luke’s empty wrist. Somehow he’d lost his commlink; of course he hadn’t been able to simply call them. But how had he contacted her as he had? She didn’t wonder about it after Bespin, but now, after Vader said she was Force-sensitive…

As if reading her thoughts, Vader said, “Luke should not have been able to contact you while under the influence of the tranquilizer. _Why could he?_ ”

“I told you, _I don’t know,_ ” she shot back. “He’s done it before - maybe that made it easier?”

“No,” he rumbled. “He can only reach me in the Force because of our bond as father and son. I ask again - _who are you?_ ”

She stood up straighter and squared her shoulders. “Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, High Command of the Rebel Alliance.”

He snarled, and grabbed her wrist, dragging her back down the hallway. “Come. I will find out for myself.”

“Hey, what’s going—” Han tried as they walked past him, but Vader cut him off.

“Silence.”

The med droid was powered down in the corner. Vader turned it on and gave it some kind of command she couldn’t see, hidden behind his bulk.

“What are you doing?” she demanded.

Her only answer was the droid shuffling around Vader and pricking her hand. “Ow.”

“Analyzing,” the droid said in its calm, even voice. She, Vader, and Han were silent, awaiting the results.

After a moment, it declared, “50% match with Skywalker, Luke and 50% match with Skywalker, Anakin.”

The temperature plummeted.

“What?” she said, bewildered.

“Twins…” Vader said, voice softer than she’d ever heard it. “We were both right…”

“ _Twins?_ ” she demanded.

“You and Luke are twins?” Han asked.

Something swirled through the air, whispered _yes_ \- was this the Force? She always _had_ felt drawn to Luke, since the moment she met him, and she could never figure out why...

“No,” she denied, trying to tug her hand out of Vader’s unrelenting grip. “I was adopted, yes, but I was on Alderaan—”

“You were _stolen,_ ” Vader hissed, suddenly vehement.

“Oh, like you would’ve been a good parent, anyway,” she deflected, mind awhirl behind her shield of vitriol. “You’ve done a _wonderful_ job with Luke.”

He whirled on her, pointing a finger in her face, forcing her to lean back. “ _I was denied the opportunity._ ”

“Wait, what’s this about you and Luke?” Han asked, confused.

Leia shot him a helpless look he couldn’t make out. “I—it’s a long story, Han.”

“Is Vader...Luke’s _father?_ ”

“Well—”

“Yes.”

She glared at Vader.

Han looked at his hands as if this was a math problem he could solve. “And you and Luke are...twins?”

“I—I guess,” she stuttered, still trying to process it.

It might make sense. It would explain that strange pull they had had to one another, explain why they became so close so quickly, and why he could contact her in the Force.

But her parents were _dead._ And _Vader_ was the one that held her back as they, and the rest of her _entire planet_ , were murdered. He could _not_ be her father.

Thankfully, Vader’s commlink chose that moment to ring.

“What?” he snapped.

“Lord Vader,” his Admiral said, voice uncharacteristically shaky, “the Emperor wishes to call you. Immediately.”

Vader growled and turned his comm off, then pointed a finger in her face. “You must shield Luke while I call the Emperor; he cannot do it sufficiently on his own like this, and the Emperor must _not_ learn that I have him back, or that you are here at all. Can you do that?”

“Shield?” she asked, still in shock at the revelation and struggling to switch gears.

“Yes. Hide yourselves in the Force, like you showed me earlier. _Can you do that?_ ”

“I—I don’t know how to do two people—”

He growled and grabbed her wrist again, dragging her into Luke’s bedroom, then let her go and crossed his arms. “Shield yourself.”

“What?” This was too much to process. First they rescued Han - and wasn’t that strange, working alongside the man who graced her every nightmare - then apparently someone had tried to kidnap Luke, now this nonsense about them being twins she hadn’t even begun to actually consider...And now Vader was demanding more of her? And the _Emperor_ was calling?

“ _Quickly,_ ” was all he said.

“No,” she stood her ground, crossing her arms. “I don’t even know if Luke is alright, not to mention that, that _banthashit_ you said about us being twins—you are _not_ my father—and what about the Emperor calling has you in such a tizzy? Aren’t you his Second in Command?”

“We do not have _time_ for this, Princess. Shield yourself, then I will show you how to shield Luke as well so that the Emperor does not _discover and kill you both._ ”

Leia pursed her lips.

Fine. Fine.

She knew how to compartmentalize - you don’t get far in a rebellion without being able to set everything aside to focus on the many life-or-death situations that pop up around you, and she’d had more practice than most.

And something in her gut told her this was serious. Whether it was the Force or not, she didn’t know, but she’d long learned to trust her feelings when they were like this.

So fine. She would do what Vader asked, this _once_ , and sort this mess out as soon as she could.

She put aside her swirling emotions - _no, it’s not true, it’s_ not - and locked them away to deal with later. Instead, she envisioned her mind as the Alderaani mountains - untouchable, immobile, stronger than durasteel. As she did it, she calmed, warm in the memory of her homeland.

“Good,” Vader said, bringing her back to the dismal present. “Now reach out for Luke and do the same around him.”

She took a deep breath, blocked out Vader again, and reached out clumsily for the warm light that was Luke. It was strange - she’d never done this before, it was always Luke reaching out to her, but somehow at the same time it was utterly natural. There seemed to be a thread in her mind that led directly to him, even; when had that happened? No, that wasn’t important right now. She pulled on it and gathered his light close to her, and sheltering him in her mountains, the two of them side by side, as easy as breathing.

Vader’s voice came to her ears as if he was underwater, barely comprehensible. So much of her was focused on Luke and her mountains. “Do _not_ drop your shields until I return.”

At the edge of her perception, she felt him leave, and it was as if a cold darkness had fled from the room, leaving only the warm light of her and...her twin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, at long last - the twins are together and aware of their relationship! Or, at least Leia is 😂 Luke's still #struggling.
> 
> Drop a comment if you enjoyed, they make my day :)


End file.
